The impact of service delivery system effectiveness on service quality: A hierarchical approach

Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. This article focuses on the effectiveness of the service delivery system (SDS) and re-examines its influence on customers' perceived service quality. In this study, the influence of four specific indicators of the SDS' effectiveness (namely front line employees' role performance, their adaptability to individual customer needs, the effectiveness of their coordination and the effectiveness of the service process' control) on perceived service quality is tested. In doing so, a hierarchical approach integrating both managers' and customers' views have been taken. The results confirm the positive influence of three variables on perceived service quality (role performance, effectiveness of coordination and effectiveness of process' control). On the contrary, the influence of employees' adaptability was not found significant

Applying FCM to Predict the Behaviour of Loyal Customers in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry

Using empirical data from the Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications sector, this study models a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the reciprocal effects of customer loyalty and its antecedents in an emerging market context. This study investigates the effect of perceived service quality, perceived service value and brand equity on customer loyalty and the simultaneous analysis of the reverse causality of these variables. Data pertaining to 350 subscribers were analysed. According to the results, the model reaches the equilibrium when brand equity and customer loyalty are increased and reach an optimal level. Based on these findings, the authors provide implications for managers in the mobile telecom industry

Linking internal marketing with customer outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore how the adoption of an internal marketing (IM) programme in a retail banking setting enhances some positive employee behaviours that promote customer perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel research design is adopted which draws evidence from branch managers, employees and customers in order to investigate whether branch manager’s adoption of an IM philosophy affects front-line employee responsiveness to the firm’s IM strategies and their levels of motivation, empowerment and organizational identification (OI), respectively. Findings – Results indicate that manager’s IM adoption can enhance employee adoption of IM and raises their levels of motivation, empowerment and OI. The moderating role of manager-employee dissimilarity is also discussed. Finally, findings confirm that employee motivation, empowerment and OI affect customer perceptions of service quality. Originality/value – This study provides an important shift by formally including IM into multilevel marketing research and establishes another link in the IM-organizational performance relationship, uncovering some behavioural routes through which the positive effects of IM can add to the achievement of firm’s external marketing objectives

Low-P/High-T pre-Alpine metamorphism and medium-P Alpine overprint of the pelagonian zone documented in high-alumina metapelites from the Vernon massif, Western Macedonia, Northern Greece

A low-P / high-T metamorphic event (andalusite-sillimanite series) of pre-Alpine age, identified here for the first time, has affected the metapelitic rocks of the Vernon Massif. P-T conditions of metamorphism in the western part of the Massif are estimated at -2.5 kb / 600-610°C, while in the northeastern part they are estimated to have exceeded 4.5 kb / 640°C respectively. Such P-T conditions correspond to geothermal gradients of 68°C/ km and 40°C/km for the western and the northeastern parts of the Massif respectively. The inferred steep geothermal gradients require transport of heat from deeper to shallower levels within the crust, achieved via magmatic intrusions in a continental magmatic arc setting. Alpine overprinting is characterized by P-T metamorphic conditions of ~6 kb / <350°C in the western part and ~9 kb / <570°C in the northeastern part of the Massif respectively. Low-P / high-T metamorphic rocks, occurring as klippen in the Cyclades and as blocks in the ophiolitic milanges of Crete, are interpreted as remnants of the pre-Alpine Pelagonian nappe similar to those occurring in the Vernon Massif

Chapter Sleep Spindles – As a Biomarker of Brain Function and Plasticity

Alternative & renewable energy sources & technolog

Sleep Spindles – As a Biomarker of Brain Function and Plasticity

Alternative & renewable energy sources & technolog

Online simulation games for guided learning: a sport business case study

Business simulation games (BSG) have become a very popular pedagogical tool in university courses and programmes all around the world. Their immense popularity has been a subject of research and academic discourse, especially the past twenty years when many experts have called for more student-centric and reality based pedagogical approaches. Their implementation in business schools has been particularly successful, leading to improved student outcomes, satisfaction and skills development. Their use in sport business courses, though, has been surprisingly neglected in the pertinent literature. In the present study, we attempt to close this gap in the literature by exploring the effectiveness of BSG implementation in sport business courses, as well as the conditions and factors that facilitate the teaching and learning experience in such cases. In doing so, this research followed a mixed methods case study approach. Our findings expand previous conclusions and arguments on the effectiveness of BSGs’ use in universities, to the case of sport business courses. They also identify conditions under which the teaching and learning experience is improved, namely effective group work, student engagement, satisfaction from the game and others. Based on these findings we propose useful recommendations and suggestions for future research. We also establish BSG as a form of independent, guided learning activity which is facilitated merely by individual engagement and group work and less from the tutors

Graphene-like metallic-on-silicon field effect transistor

In this manuscript, we present a field effect transistor with a channel consisting of a two-dimensional electron gas located at the interface between an ultrathin metallic film of Ni and a p-type Si(111) substrate. We have demonstrated that the two-dimensional electron gas channel is modulated by the gate voltage. The dependence of the drain current on the drain voltage has no saturation region, similar to a field effect transistor based on graphene. However, the transport in this transistor is not ambipolar, as in graphene, but unipolar

ProMe: A Mentoring Platform for Older Adults Using Machine Learning Techniques for Supporting the “Live and Learn” Concept

It is well known what an important role employment plays in our lives and how it influences our everyday life. With the help of employment, all of us as individuals manage to create our personal and social net that not only gives meaning and financial security but also heavily affects our social status, contributes to self-esteem, and plays a vital role on the way our social relationships at work and (not only) are formed. Being work active even after the retirement time has been found to have mostly useful and positive effects. Age groups that are in the after retirement age group (65 and more) and keep working can significantly improve their mental health since they feel that there are still things to offer to others. ProMe aims to provide a unique framework for the people being in this transitional phase of their life, from work to retirement, thus playing a vital role in supporting their mental health and well-being. ProMe provides a platform for the younger generation to benefit from the accumulated professional and formal knowledge and experience of the older. In this way, ProMe supports professional intergenerational cooperation and mentoring, bringing together older adults with younger generations