63,144 research outputs found
Service quality in a post-crisis context: emotional effects and behaviours
Purpose â The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of service quality dimensions as
determinants of the emotional and relational behaviours experienced by the client in bank branches in the
post-crisis context experienced by Spanish financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach â Data taken from a total of 1,125 customers were analysed through
structural equations modelling (EQS6.1) to test the relationships of the proposed modelâs variables.
Findings â The results support the hypotheses stated, with the exception of the influence of a service quality
dimension (servicescape) on emotions during the service. In fact, the dimensions of the service quality of an
intangible nature (personnel, outcome and social) are determinants of the positive emotions and relational
behaviours of clients around the service provided by the branches. For its part, servicescape quality, of a more
tangible nature, exerts indirect influence on the other dimensions that compose the quality of service.
Practical implications â This paper provides senior bank executives established evidence on the degree of
influence of the different dimensions in relation to the quality of service in the bank branch. Furthermore, it
emphasises the importance of emotional factors during service as essential elements in strengthening
customerâstaff relationships under a non-transactional dynamic.
Originality/value â This paper has adopted an analytical holistic, theoretical and empirical perspective on
the impact of the different dimensions of service quality (servicescape, personnel, outcome and social) as well
as to the emotions experienced by banking customers during services and its lasting effect on customer
engagement and customer advocacy
The client-oriented model of cultural competence in healthcare organizations
The paper aims to propose a new model of cultural competence in health organizations based on the paradigm of client orientation. Starting from a literature review, this study takes inspiration from dimensions that characterize the cultural competence of health organizations, and re-articulates them in more detail by applying a client orientation view. The resulting framework is articulated into six dimensions (formal references; procedures and practices; cultural competences of human resources; cultural orientation toward client; partnership with community; and self-assessment) that define the ability of a health organization to achieve its mission, acknowledging, understanding, and valorizing cultural differences of internal clients (staff) and external clients (consumers). This study makes an effort to address the paucity of studies linking approaches to managing cultural diversity in health organizations with cultural competence within the framework of client orientation
Procurement push and marketing pull in supply chain management: the conceptual contribution of relationship marketing as a driver in project financial performance
? The agenda for supply management practices on construction projects originated from clients. It is largely procurement driven, the dominant strategy of contractors being to emulate the client approach, and hence push the procurement model along the chain.? This procurement push along the supply chain translates the intrinsic client interest in value into a contractor interest in repeat business from the same client or through referral markets, the consequence being: (i) loss of interest in adding further value along the chain, (ii) continuous improvement prematurely reaches the law of diminishing returns through a primary cost reduction focus, (iii) supply chains may be rationalised in terms of the number of suppliers for each link in the chain, yet the procurement push increases chain length in order to squeeze the lowest costs possible, hence those doing the work at the bottom of the chain will not have the resources to add value nor necessarily be aware of the strategic principles at the top of the chain. ? Marketing is the other side of the same ?procurement coin?; relationship marketing (RM) soliciting a pull in the supply chain, potentially adding value for continuous improvement. ? Finally, the RM approach will be related to the theoretical and actual decoupling point for construction, with the potential to move the point towards the start of the chain, hence increasing the potential for agile manufacturing
Performance evaluation in research departments: from the Balanced Scorecard to the Strategy Map
Notwithstanding a growing interest towards performance management systems for universities, little is known on their application to academic departments. Being an institution dedicated to research, a department presents specific characteristics: creativity, professional autonomy, low degree of repetitiveness, uncertainty on results, unclear relation between input and output. Such peculiarities make the evaluation and measurement of its performance particularly difficult. The purpose of the paper is the exploration and development of a performance evaluation approach which is suitable for the particular features of an academic department. As this paper is explorative in nature, we use a qualitative methodology, to identify dimensions of performance evaluation suitable for application to an academic department. Data are collected for the case study of a department of the University of Padua, Italy. After identifying the relations between the four perspective of the balanced scorecard and identifying the strategic maps, the case study proposes a set of goals and measures which are suitable to satisfy the managerial needs of the analyzed department. The paper contributes to the performance evaluation literature in three main ways. It extends the concept of customer by considering a wider systems of stakeholders; it emphasize the strategic role of the financial dimension as a driver for achieving the mission and it highlights the need to coordinate the different stakeholders involved in the enhancement of strategy, from academic and administrative staff, to different types of customers and the community in general.performance measurement, strategy map, balanced scorecard, university, departments
Employers skill survey : case study : health and social care
"This report examines the relationship between service delivery strategies and processes, and the
deployment of skills, recruitment problems and skill gaps within selected sub-sectors of health and
social care. The sub-sectors within health are physiotherapy and radiography. Within social care
the focus is on care of the elderly (both residential and domiciliary care).
Although subject to similar drivers and associated pressures, the two sub-sectors of health and social
care display markedly different characteristics, particularly in terms of service delivery strategies,
qualification frameworks and utilisation of skills. In simple terms, the health and social care subsectors
considered within this report may be thought of as being situated at opposite poles of the âskills spectrumâ: with radiography and physiotherapy characterised by high level skills, while care of the elderly is traditionally associated with low level skills. Hence, the two sub-sectors are discussed separately throughout this report. The greater complexity and range of skills required in the two health sub-sectors is reflected in the comparative length of the two sections of the report" - page 9
Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns
Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse
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