Process design principles in service firms: Universal or context dependent? A literature review and new research directions

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Total Quality Management & Business Excellence on 16/01/2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14783363.2011.637797#.VGxftZ1FDcsThe aim of this article is to assess whether process design principles derived from best practices are universally applicable to service organisations or context dependent. This is achieved through a comprehensive review of the business process management (BPM) and operations management (OM) literatures. Our comparison of the existing bodies of knowledge in these disciplines reveals major inconsistencies in how the topic of process design in service environments is addressed. Drawing on the more mature, contingency-oriented OM literature, we challenge the BPM discipline which prescribes that process design principles derived from best practices are universally applicable irrespective of the context in which the service organisation operates. The results strongly suggest that in the business process design area one size does not fit all service organisations and that some design principles fit better under certain contextual conditions. We then use these findings to develop a contingency conceptual framework and associated research propositions linking the firm's service strategy context to the use of particular business process design principles. This extends existing theory and provides a platform for future process design research in service organisations that is more closely aligned with the needs of practitioners

Upaya Pengembangan Total Quality Management pada Masyarakat Pelaku Bisnis (Studi Komparatif Manajemen Konvensional dan Syariah)

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an attempt by the company to provide satisfaction to the customers . The concept of quality (quality) for service and non- service basically includes a variety of things that are focused on the customer. A product is created, designed, manufactured and services provided to meet the desires and needs of the customer. Because it is said to be a quality product if it can be exploited, used, consumed in line with expectations, desires, and needs of the customer. Customer satisfaction is very influential on the survival of a company. Considering there is a fundamental difference between the philosophies of quality in the conventional management with quality standards in the management of deep Sharia assesment requires in order to avoid confusion . While there are some principles that the conventional concept of quality management in accordance with the principles of Islamic teachings. Quality standards in the management of Islam based on universal values and timeless as contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah are the main foundation for the way of life of Muslims . Disregard for the core values that exist in the Qur'an and Sunnah will lead to a breakdown in human life . Therefore, the affirmation of the core values that exist in the Qur'an and Sunnah should be the cornerstone of management of sharia. In concept , the sharia management associated with a variety of variables that affect the management of activities within and outside the organization , and the relationship of individual behavior to social factors that influence . Therefore , management sharia regarding various aspects of human life in all areas . sharia value system becomes a principle in every step of human motion , both individually and society , whether in small or large organizations . Therefore, monotheism became the basis for sharia -based institutions in regulating and moral control in organizational life . Second, sincerity can enhance pillars of Tawheed , because without sincerity is not Tawheed has value and meaning. Tawheed without sincerity is the management of non- Muslim life quality. Third,the balance (tawazun). Balance in the various activities of life can give birth to harmony. Fourth, is the creative (work) and innovative. Working as a man who can carry out the principles of worship and mission of the caliph. Fifth, the working principles of trust and transparency as a form of honesty should be the foundation should not be abandoned. Furthermore, the principle of preparation (planning) has an important role in the activity. For all that has been done to enable the evaluation of the need for continuous improvement . Sharia -based management has a vision far ahead is not restricted to a limited time period but for an indefinite period. Because accountability not only in the sight of men , but before God Almight

A Computational Economy for Grid Computing and its Implementation in the Nimrod-G Resource Brok

Computational Grids, coupling geographically distributed resources such as PCs, workstations, clusters, and scientific instruments, have emerged as a next generation computing platform for solving large-scale problems in science, engineering, and commerce. However, application development, resource management, and scheduling in these environments continue to be a complex undertaking. In this article, we discuss our efforts in developing a resource management system for scheduling computations on resources distributed across the world with varying quality of service. Our service-oriented grid computing system called Nimrod-G manages all operations associated with remote execution including resource discovery, trading, scheduling based on economic principles and a user defined quality of service requirement. The Nimrod-G resource broker is implemented by leveraging existing technologies such as Globus, and provides new services that are essential for constructing industrial-strength Grids. We discuss results of preliminary experiments on scheduling some parametric computations using the Nimrod-G resource broker on a world-wide grid testbed that spans five continents

Outsourcing: guidelines for a structured approach

Outsourcing is a management approach by which an organization delegates some noncore functions to specialized and ef®cient service providers. In the era of ªglobal marketº and ªe-economyº, outsourcing is one of the main pillars of the new way to conceive the relationships among companies. Despite outsourcing large diffusion, huge business cases and big deals of documentation available on network or press, there is no structured procedure able to support the govern of the evolution of a generic outsourcing process. In accordance with the principles of total quality management, this paper describes a proposal of a new approach for managing outsourcing processes. The model, which can be easily adapted to different application ®elds, has been conceived with the main aim of managing strategic decisions, economic factors and human resources. The approach is supported by different decision and analysis tools, such as benchmarking techniques, multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) methods, cost analysis, and other process-planning methodologies. An application of the method to a real case is also provide

Becoming part of behind the scenes: patients' experiences of co-learning with primary health care teams.

Current debates about the involvement of health service users in service delivery, research and education focus on the purpose of their involvement, the methods of their involvement, barriers to their involvement and the impact of their involvement. There is little reported about the experience of service user involvement from the service user perspective although some reports are beginning to emerge. This research study explored the experiences of a group of health service users (patient representatives) who brought their experience of being a patient to contribute to an educational initiative about quality improvement and back pain. That study – the Learning to Improve the Management of Back Pain in the Community (LIMBIC) project, utilised a mixed methods approach to evaluate the impact of the educational initiative on clinical practice and patient outcomes for the management of back pain. Eleven patient representatives, uniquely placed as co-learners, participated with general practice teams learning about quality improvement principles and methods and implementing quality improvements in practice. To build on this learning initiative, the current study used semi-structured interviews to explore the patient representative experience and integrated the findings with existing LIMBIC data. The study illuminated aspects of the service user experience which led to the proposal for a model for co-learning with service users to bring about change. It contributes to the wider knowledge of service user involvement by identifying features of their experience that worked well for them and features that could be improved. The co-learner role is a new direction for service user involvement and represents a new movement in the field of inquiry about opportunities for service user involvement in the future. A debate has been opened about managing expectations of service users and about their potential for leadership and influencing change

A critical commentary on management science in relation to reforms after institutional National Health Service failures

Aim(s) A discussion paper on the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS) market reforms. Background NHS market reforms reliance on management science methods introduced a fundamental shift in measuring care for commissioning. Evaluation A number of key reports are discussed in relation to NHS market reforms and management science. Key issues NHS market reforms were influenced through a close alliance between policy makers, the department of health, free market think tanks and management consultancies. The timing of reforms coincided with reports on NHS failings and the evolution of measurement methods to focus on finance. Conclusions The balance in favour of measurement practises is of concern. Management science methods are criticised in the Francis Report yet promoted as the solution to some of the key findings; why may be explained by the close alliance. Implications for Nursing Management A return to principles of management involving consensus, trust and involvement to promote quality care and use management science methods to this end

The Maturity Level of Quality Management and Medical Service Improvement by Wielkopolska District Hospitals

Theoretical background: Quality management and medical service improvement in district hospitals enables to achieve a number of internal and external benefits. It is a long-term process of conscious transformation of the existing state into a desired and accepted one by the concerned stakeholders. The diagnosis of the medical service organizations’ performance is an important aspect in the context of building a hospital of the future which is focused on quality, development and improvement.Purpose of the article: The article reveals the positions of hospital managers (directors) on the current level of the quality management maturity service improvement of the medical facilities they manage.Research methods: A diagnostic survey was conducted using a paper questionnaire. The form was handed in person and filled in the presence of the author. This provided an inducement for analysis and conclusions. The study was performed in 2022.Main findings: The level of implementation of the quality management system (QMS) principles in the surveyed hospital organizations, despite the variability, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the environment, was evaluated at 3.39. This means that the practice of the QMS is widely established, but not in most areas. Therefore, the scope of the principles cannot be considered as complete. The result is different for the assessed maturity of quality excellence in the selected accreditation standards. The surveyed district hospitals evaluated their maturity level at 3.69. Thus, the respondents considered that the maturity level to be close to 70%. They identify the practice as typical (only some exceptions are deviations from it). The surveyed hospitals also have evidence of continuous improvement after at least one year. Another important aspect concerned maturity research in relation to innovation. The surveyed entities determined this parameter at the level of 3.50, which corresponds to approximately 66%. The highest level of maturity achieved the hospitals in the operational skills in conditions of disruption. They assessed the adaptation abilities and taken actions towards sustainable development at the level of 3.82 (72%). These results prove that the district hospitals in the Wielkopolska voivodeship take steps toward excellence, but their level of excellence in 2022 is not full (as it does not apply to 100% of occurrences, and the practice is also not implemented in entire hospitals, without exceptions)

EXPLORING SERVICE QUALITY IN THE ISLAMIC BANKING INDUSTRY IN KUWAIT: ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS

Service quality management is an important organizational factor, through which organizations differentiate themselves, compete, and take the lead in the marketplace. It is even more challenging for banks and financial services which, by and large, offer products and services that are difficult for customers to differentiate. Improvements in service quality are expected to increase customer satisfaction, which, in turn, will increase the banks’ ability to retain their customers, broaden their market share, and increase profitability. This study, hence, is an attempt to measure the perceived service quality of three Islamic banks in Kuwait; Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait International Bank, and Boubyan Bank. Additional dimensions are added to the service quality model (SERVQUAL) to measure the perceived service quality and the customers’ perceptions. Dimensions such as; Shari’ah compliancy, the competitiveness between Islamic banks in Kuwait, the technology factors, and the general customer satisfaction were incorporated to the respective model. The study aims to identify those dimensions that influence the level of customers’ perceptions in the sampled banks, examine the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction and assess the correlation between the Islamic banking variables and the SERQUAL dimensions. To attain these aims the study utilized a sample of 700 responses across the three Islamic banks. The study findings demonstrate an above-average level of satisfaction among the Islamic banks’ customers. ‘Compliance’, ‘empathy’, and ‘assurance’ were the most important dimensions as perceived by the Islamic banks customers in Kuwait. The results showed a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and some of the modified SERVQUAL dimensions namely; ‘empathy’, ‘assurance’, ‘compliance’, and ‘competitiveness’. The study also found that demographic factors have significant effect on the perceptions of service quality in Kuwaiti Islamic banks. Based on these results and findings, it could be concluded that in Kuwaiti Islamic banks customers are satisfied with the quality of services depending on their bank being Shari’ah-compliant and assured to deliver the promised services, employees being considerate and understanding, and finally being competitive by offering the best service with competitive charges. The study also confirmed that the avoidance of interest and other religious motives are the most important reasons why customers prefer to patronize the Islamic banks in Kuwait in general. However, when testing each bank individually, differences accrued in ranking the religious factor and being compliant with Islamic Shari’ah principles. The results are expected to provide both theoretical and practical contributions in the area of service quality management and customer behavior in Islamic banking. The overall findings are important for service quality managers to identify efficient and effective approaches for improving quality in their banks

Perception of teachers towards total quality management (TQM) in teacher education institutions

Quality has been a central issue for researchers in the field of education for quite some years now. The shift has been observed as: from quality to quality control to quality assurance and now it is Total Quality Management (TQM). The growth of the Total Quality Management phenomenon in Teacher Education Institutions has been radical in the part of twentieth century. Still the application of Total Quality Management in Education institutions is questionable and the implementation rate is very negligible in comparison to other sectors like, industry, service sectors etc., The TQM has gained wide acceptance in the business world as an institutional transformation philosophy. The Total Quality Management is a system of management based on the principles that every member of staff must be committed to maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations (Britannica,2001). The reforms in the teacher education are the need of the hour to achieve the national goals. This study attempts to find out the perception of teachers on selected eleven quality indicators (leadership, teacher quality, student quality, material resources -{Input indicators}, linkage and interface, teaching, co-curricular, office management, examination - {Process indicators}, relationship and job satisfaction {Product indicators}) categorized into three dimensions namely input indicators, process indicators and product indicators. The perception of teachers towards TQM was studied through data collected from teachers working in various colleges of education (government and aided) in Tamilnadu. The findings of the study revealed that, as far as input indicators of TQM are concerned, no difference of perception was identified in terms of gender, locality and experience. In case of process indicators of TQM did not vary due to their gender, locality and their teaching experience. Finally for the product indicators, the perception does not differ with the gender and their teaching experience but it differs in terms of the locality of the teachers