Mind the gap: examining the gap in international passenger expectations and perceptions of service quality in low-cost carriers

Meeting or exceeding passengers' service quality expectations has become a critical factor for lowcost carriers (LCC). Still, only limited efforts have been made to date to investigate the differences (gap) in LCC passengers' expectations and perceptions. A comprehensive 25-item SERVQUAL framework for LCC was first developed through an extensive literature review and insights obtained from exploratory interviews and focus groups with passengers and industry experts. Using survey data of LCC passengers, the validity and reliability of the framework were first established, and then the differences in the expectations and perceptions were understood. The results indicate that none of the service quality attributes of LCCs have met, let alone exceeded, expectations, and the most significant gaps were found for "reliability" and "responsiveness" dimensions. With the growing global demand for budget travel and new LCCs entering the market, the study provides timely insights for LCCs to narrow the expectation–perception gap and achieve competitive advantage

Blue Ocean Strategy: An investigation on Food Industry in the UAE

Today's business environment is highly competitive and uncertain, forcing companies to continually adapt their strategies just to survive. The businesses that most people have grown up with are also facing tremendous changes; moreover, the pace of both reconstructions of business models, as well as the use of advanced technology, has increased.  Every step taken by businesses today is being questioned, therefore, it becomes challenging for many to keep up with new demands as well as sustaining in the market due to intense competition. The level of competition a business faces is an important indicator of its success in building its market share; indeed, the most reliable sign of success is when a firm no longer has any formidable competitors left in an existing market—this indicates true victory. Thus, in the light of dynamic markets and fierce competition, it has become customary for companies to continuously alter their business models and strategies. Over the years, many new business models have emerged, many of which have left their imprint. The Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is one such paradigm; created and published by W. Kim Chan and Renee Mauborgne, the book became an instantaneous success and was accepted all over the world. This study analyzes the applicability of the BOS in the context of Middle-East country; specifically, it investigates the impact of introducing the BOS in the UAE food industry and the channels of its action. To achieve this, the study first conducted an in-depth exploration of BOS, the tools and frameworks used to create a successful BOS, and the prevailing position of the food industry in the UAE. The study used qualitative data in the form of in-depth interviews to provide answers to the research questions. The preliminary findings indicate that applying the BOS model to the UAE food industry could lead to profit maximization and long term survival, therefore, firms are already exploring ways to apply the BOS to their respective operations. After analyzing the data, it was found that the BOS creates several opportunities for innovation and creativity.  The business can explore a new and uncontested market space with the help of the BOS if executed correctly. Applying the BOS for the first time does entail risks since the innovative idea needs to succeed in the market; therefore, success depends on the type of product offered. The study of the Blue Ocean Strategy is new and the applicability of the BOS to the food industry in the UAE has not been previously researched. Existing studies have tended to study both the BOS and food industry individually, but, the gap exists since no study has yet explored a combination of the two.  As a result, the ideas presented in this study could create an opportunity for future researchers to pursue research on various aspects of food and other related industries.&nbsp

Empowered but Endangered? : An Analysis of Hegemonic Womanhood in Indian Gender Advocacy Campaigns

This research examines digital gender advocacy campaigns in India during the 2010s. By employing thematic analysis and conceptual tools of the social representations theory into the analysis of 250 gender advocacy videos published on YouTube, we answer the following questions: a) How are dangers to women in India discussed in recent video campaigns? b) How is the topic objectified and anchored in multimodal narration? c) How is hegemonic womanhood constructed in the campaigns? The findings suggest that campaigns present two social representations of dangers with sexual harassment depicted as a danger for urban middle-class women and the issues of early marriage, lack of female education, and gender-biased sex selection as rural dangers. The primary solution suggested by the campaigns is to encourage women to actively claim their place in society, placing the main responsibility for changing the situation on women themselves. The secondary solution suggested is to encourage families to support girls and women. Thus, the analysis shows how social representations created by gender advocacy in India put responsibility on individuals and excuse social institutions from addressing inequality, while maintaining power relations and class disparities.Peer reviewe

A review of interventional schizophrenia trials registered in clinical trials registry of India

Background: The current therapies for schizophrenia are targeted at reducing the severity of symptoms and they do not cure the disease. The research in this field is going on for many years. The present study was designed to access the current status of interventional studies conducted in schizophrenia based on studies registered in the CTRI. Methods: Interventional studies for schizophrenia registered on CTRI from 2007 to May 2022 were reviewed and analysed, using the keyword “schizophrenia”. Parameters such as number of studies, year wise distribution of the studies registered, status of the studies at the time of analysis, types of study designs, randomization, blinding, geographical distribution, type of intervention. Results: Out of 42952 studies registered with CTRI from 2007 to May 2022, 323 studies exclusively involved schizophrenia which accounts for only 0.75% of the total studies. 206 were interventional studies. Among the interventional studies 188 were randomized and 87 were blinded. Of all the interventional studies 141(68.4%) involved pharmacological interventions (Allopathy), 53 (25.7%) were non drug interventions, the rest were AYUSH. Of the 141 studies involving pharmacological interventions 28 were comparative studies with active control, 23 were addon studies, 14 were single arm efficacy and safety studies and 76 were BA/BE studies. Conclusions: The study showed a rise in schizophrenia interventional study registries in the last 5 years. However, it highlighted the need to conduct more comparative studies with active control or efficacy and safety studies rather than BA/BE studies, in order to propose better alternatives to the existing therapy

An expectation-experience analysis of service quality of business travelers in low-cost airlines

A number of low-cost airlines (LCA) are repositioning their brand strategy to attract business travelers. This requires first understanding and then meeting business traveler's service quality expectations. Unfortunately, most studies on service quality attributes of LCAs have focused on leisure travelers. This formed the motivation of this study, which aims to examine the gap that exists between expectations and (actual) experience with the services received across the various dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL) among international business travelers. A total of 142 responses from business travelers were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising 23 SERVQUAL items. An expectation-experience analysis (EEA) was then performed on the survey data to categorize each item in the EEA grid as 1) High priority (high expectation but low experience) 2) Keep up the good work (high expectation and high experience) 3) Low priority (low expectation and low experience) and 4) Possible overkill (low expectation but high experience). The results show that the LCAs should focus more on the 'reliability' factor as most of its items emerged in the high priority grid while low priority should be given to 'empathy'. Overall, an all-around improvement is required to narrow the service quality gap, given that none of the service quality attributes have met or exceeded business travelers' expectations. The results are useful for practitioners to prioritize service quality improvements and develop tailor-made marketing and branding strategies