Customer evaluations of after-sales service contact modes: An empirical analysis of national culture�s consequences

customer, service, culture, evaluation

Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension

Reijners, P. B. G., Kester, L., Wetzels, S. A. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012, November). Learning from text: The effect of adjunct questions and alignment on text comprehension. Poster presented at the ICO International Fall School, Girona, Spain.In education tests are primarily used as diagnostic instruments. However, they can also be used as learning instruments to help learners improve learning and long-term retention. A lot of research in the past has focused on the use of adjunct questions as test instruments to aid learners during the learning process. The research reported on here builds on previous found effects of placement, level and form of questions on test performances. It is investigated how different types of questions (factual and comprehension) relate to and interact with alignment. Results show that answering comprehension questions during a study phase positively influences performance on repeated and new comprehension questions. It was also found that when there is alignment on comprehension questions in a study and test phase, participants’ performance on repeated comprehension questions is higher compared to the performance of participants in conditions in which there was no alignment or alignment on factual questions

The 3R study strategy to improve text retention and text comprehension

Reijners, P. B. G., Kester, L., Wetzels, S. A. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2013, 27 August). The 3R study strategy to improve text retention and text comprehension. In B. Klein (Chair), Effective Learning Strategies and their Usage in Self-regulated Training Programs and Computer-Based Learning. Symposium conducted at the EARLI 2013 conference, Munich, Germany.The research reported on investigates the contribution of the read-recite-review (3R) study strategy to improve both students’ text retention and text comprehension. Both the effect of intentional learning with inserted verbatim or comprehension questions during reading and retrieval compared to incidental learning by performing free recall and the effect of transfer appropriate processing during learning on final test performance (repeated and new questions) are investigated. One hundred and thirty-one first-year students participated and they were randomly divided in four intentional (1-4) and one incidental learning condition (5): (1) two times verbatim questions, (2) two times comprehension questions, (3) verbatim-comprehension questions, (4) comprehension-verbatim questions and (5) free recall. During the presentation the results of the study are presented

Return on interactivity: The impact of online agents on newcomer adjustment

As service offerings grow in both range and complexity, how service providers and their customers interact is becoming increasingly important. In response to the challenge of optimizing these interactions, companies have introduced sophisticated online "socialization agents," whose purpose is to help new customers more effectively adjust to and function within the service environment. The objective of these online agents, or virtual employees, is to help customers evaluate new or unfamiliar service offerings, as well as help companies achieve greater levels of service delivery and financial performance. To investigate this, the authors analyze the process by which online agents help both new and current customers adjust to and function within new, unfamiliar, or complex service contexts. They examine the impact of an online agent on account performance in the banking industry. They find that both interaction style and content of the online agent significantly influence the newcomer adjustment process over time, which in turn influences firm-level performance

Customer evaluations of after-sales service contact modes : an empirical analysis of national culture's consequences

Technological advances extend the after-sales services portfolio from traditional service encounters to voice- and bit-based services. Technology enables service organizations to transcend geographical as well as cultural boundaries. It might even result in geographical convergence, often treated synonymously with cultural convergence. In this paper we address this issue. This paper examines the interaction between perceived service performance and national cultural characteristics in the formation of customer satisfaction for three types of after-sales service contact modes. The results suggest that, in contrast to the traditional face-to-face service encounter, the perceived quality-satisfaction relationship is particularly moderated by national culture in case of an after-sales service contact mode mediated by technology

The renewable energy and energy efficiency potential of Waitakere City : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology in Energy Management at Massey University

Electricity restrictions and blackouts have occurred in Waitakere City in the past and are likely to occur again in the future unless the city can become more self reliant by meeting, at least in part, the increasing energy requirements for what is one of the fastest growing cities in New Zealand. In this study the potentials for energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy resources have been broadly quantified and assessed using desktop analysis of publicly available data for stationary final use energy systems (i.e. excluding transportation) within the geographical area of Waitakere City and adjoining waters. It was found that energy efficiency and energy conservation measures can consistently and predictably achieve overall energy savings and reduce daily and seasonal peak demand. The best renewable energy resource potential exists with solar and geothermal for heating applications and wave, offshore and inshore wind and tidal currents for electricity generation. There is very limited potential for hydro and bioenergy systems beyond what already exists. PV solar and land based wind power generation are currently only feasible for limited off-grid applications. This scoping study confirms the achievability of the vision expressed in Waitakere City Council's "Long Term Council Community Plan" (LTCCP) that by 2020 " Waitakere City will be an energy cell, not an energy sink. Air quality supports good health". A range of flagship projects have been identified to progress the achievement of this vision. Waitakere City Council can use this report as part of the development of a comprehensive energy management plan

Exchange effects on electron transport through single-electron spin-valve transistors

We study electron transport through single-electron spin-valve transistors in the presence of non-local exchange between the ferromagnetic leads and the central normal-metal island. The Coulomb interaction is described with the orthodox model for Coulomb blockade and we allow for noncollinear lead magnetization directions. Two distinct exchange mechanisms that have been discussed in the literature are shown to be of comparable strength and are taken into account on equal footing. We present results for the linear conductance as a function of gate voltage and magnetic configuration, and discuss the response of the system to applied magnetic fields.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure