Service quality at the London 2012 Games – a Paralympics Athletes Survey

Purpose – This paper reports on aspects of service quality at the London 2012 Paralympic Games,from a rather unusual perspective, the athletes. To date there has been little evidence captured about athlete’s satisfaction at sporting events, and specifically about their perceptions of the service quality provided. Design/methodology/approach – Unique ‘full’ access to the London 2012 Paralympics allowed to the collection of data directly from the athletes. The study reports the questionnaire findings from a sample of 250 respondents. Findings – From this study an operational assessment and performance framework has been generated composed of 10 criteria and 73 items or sub-criteria, which can be used as a benchmarking tool to plan, design and compare future sport mega-event. Moreover, the study evidence based the high quality of the 2012 Paralympics Games, as he athletes rated, on a 5 point Likert scale, 64 items in the ‘very satisfied’ category, a very positive set of feedback for the Games organisers. Research limitations/implications – The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions from. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge where very little evidence has been captured so far and where the objectives were to explore the Paralympics games service quality and performance. Practical implications – This research provides a tangible evidence base to support future sport event decision-makers, planners and designers in this highly complex ‘arena’. In any system, there are always areas for improvement (AFIs), these are highlighted within the paper for further investigation. Originality/value – This is the first paper to identify and synthesize aspects of sport mega event service quality from the athletes viewpoint and informs how well designed, organised and managed the London 2012 Games were from a primary user perspective. The paper makes a defined contribution by developing evidence based recommendations for this important yet under researched area

The motivation for open innovation access to new product development : the case of Thai dessert SME’s

Quantitative studies of relationship between open innovation (OI) and new product development (NPD) performance have been provided by various authors. Nevertheless, there has been little evidence of qualitative research to explore SMEs’ motivation behind OI access, in support of NPD, and which pattern of OI practice SMEs operate for access. This is one of qualitative studies to fill this knowledge gap. The study provides significant evidence for elucidation of why OI is useful for NPD within context of SMEs. In this study, Thai dessert SMEs are employed as the case

Knowledge Management and Organizational Performance in Pakistani Think Tanks

Acceptance of knowledge as strategic resource and increased interest towards Knowledge Management (KM) is guiding the way towards knowledge era. Rhetoric nature of knowledge, knowledge work and knowledge worker strongly demand for KM. Many countries had already adopted their knowledge goals and few still need the consideration. Among knowledge intensive organizations (KIOs) Think Tanks (TT) are unique being policy research intensive organizations. Think Tanks could serve as a bridge between state and society and their performance will have impact on both. Complex policy making process increases the challenge of measuring the influence of TT and knowledge management will strengthen them to meet the challenge. Pakistani TTs can build right national image which is highly ignored. Pakistani TTs, apparently unaware of KM, are not only having treasure of Knowledge Resources (KR) but also using KM to enhance their organizational performance (OP). KRs are found more important for them to perform than material resources. Their knowledge capital (KC) highly depends on their human and social capital. Moreover cultural values and norms, multiple languages, knowledgeable leadership and national spirit have impact on OP. They take dual credit of having impact on governmental policies-macro level and people’s perception-micro level. KM-OP relationship is of current interest in the relevant literature and practice. Complex multi- dimensional nature of KM demands for concept clarity and surety. Literature mostly presents the link for specified dimension and explicit KM programs but silent on its cohesive view. Knowledge and its management are independent of any explicit definition and implementation. Literature and practice provides several example of KM failure because some specified dimension of it was selected and attempted for implementation. KM aligned with Organizational Strategy (OS) will underpin suitable processes, functions, methodology, technology, behaviour and structure in reference to strategic resource knowledge to achieve OP

Sustainable Competitive Advantage Through Servitization: An Investigation Into Servitization Strategy In the Real Estate Development Sector

Achieving sustainable competitive advantage, based upon services provision, is often claimed to be viable for businesses. There has, however, been little evidence captured on the application of aspects of servitization within the real estate development. By applying the RVB theory, the research propositions of this study include understanding how superior performance is driven from organization capabilities and how different organizations develop and position those capabilities to gain competitive advantage. This research was conducted using an exploratory research and in-depth case study. The study suggests that more strategic alignment between servitization decisions and operations management is required to create competitive advantage

Evaluation of Corporate Sustainability

As a consequence of an increasing demand in sustainable development for business organizations, the evaluation of corporate sustainability has become a topic intensively focused by academic researchers and business practitioners. Several techniques in the context of multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) have been suggested to facilitate the evaluation and the analysis of sustainability performance. However, due to the complexity of evaluation, such as a compilation of quantitative and qualitative measures, interrelationships among various sustainability criteria, the assessor’s hesitation in scoring, or incomplete information, simple techniques may not be able to generate reliable results which can reflect the overall sustainability performance of a company. This paper proposes a series of mathematical formulations based upon the evidential reasoning (ER) approach which can be used to aggregate results from qualitative judgments with quantitative measurements under various types of complex and uncertain situations. The evaluation of corporate sustainability through the ER model is demonstrated using actual data generated from three sugar manufacturing companies in Thailand. The proposed model facilitates managers in analysing the performance and identifying improvement plans and goals. It also simplifies decision making related to sustainable development initiatives. The model can be generalized to a wider area of performance assessment, as well as to any cases of multiple criteria analysis

Where is the competitive edge in Knowledge Transfer?: the impact of KTPs

The need for technology transfer from universities to industry is a theme that resonates throughout many advanced countries of the world. This paper explores the effectiveness and efficiency of Business and Management schools in transferring technology through formal Knowledge Transfer schemes; it examines the value and impact of these activities by reporting on the outputs from thirteen major case studies across two sectors, manufacturing and healthcare. The paper assesses the impact of knowledge transfer, in relation to the development of a competitive edge and proposes some initial frameworks for potential application and use

Improving access to health services – Challenges in Lean application

Purpose: Healthcare organisations face significant productivity pressures and are undergoing major service transformation. This paper serves to disseminate findings from a Lean healthcare project using a NHS Single Point of Access environment as the case study. It demonstrates the relevance and extent that Lean can be applied to this type of healthcare service setting. Design/methodology/approach: Action research was applied and Lean tools used to establish current state processes, identify wastes and develop service improvement opportunities based upon defined customer values. Findings: The quality of referral information was found to be the root cause of a number of process wastes and causes of failure for the service. Understanding the relationship and the nature of interaction between the service‟s customer/supplier led to more effective and sustainable service improvement opportunities and the co-creation of value. It was also recognised that not all the Lean principles could be applied to this type of healthcare setting. Practical implications: The study is useful to organisations using Lean to undertake service improvement activities. The paper outlines how extending the value stream beyond the organisation to include suppliers can lead to improved co-production and generation of service value. Originality/value: The study contributes to service productivity research by demonstrating the relevance and limitations of Lean application in a new healthcare service setting. The case study demonstrates the practical challenges of implementing Lean in reciprocal service design models and adds validity to existing contextual models