The impact of quality control initiatives, customer integration and customer co-production on service quality performance : an empirical investigation

Delivering a high standard of services to customers is recognised as an important objective for any service provider. In order to achieve this goal employees are encouraged to go about their jobs in certain ways, comply with guidelines and in accordance with the strategy drawn by the organisation. Although service quality is difficult to define and measure, research has not stopped looking for processes, tools and business practices so as to improve service quality performance. Literature suggests both practical tools to achieve organisational goals with respect to service delivery and offers theoretical foundations to examine the interrelationships between variables that contribute to those organisational goals.Despite an emerging interest in customer integration and customer co-production in service provision in the Marketing literature, little attention has been paid to the investigation of relationships between customer integration, customer co-production and service quality performance. Based on the facilities-transformation-usage framework of service delivery and control theory, we develop a conceptual framework that examines the impact of combining quality control initiatives (QCIs) on service quality performance. We explicitly consider formal and informal control mechanisms as well as selected elements of the organisation internal environment as antecedents of QCIs. Customer co-production is proposed as a consequence of QCIs, and it is proposed that when customer integration is high the relationship between customer co-production and service quality performance will be strengthened.The conceptual framework is tested using data drawn from hotel managers and employees across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; a total of 398 usable questionnaires were analysed. The relationships between variables are tested by applying variance based structural equation modelling. Moderator effects were tested using residual centring.The findings of this study reveal unique results. Environment characteristics positively influence controls in shaping employees’ behaviour. However, contrary to expectations, environment characteristics, specifically, greater procedural knowledge, greater performance documentation and organisational commitment did not strengthen the relationship between customer co-production and service quality performance. Similarly, the notion that higher levels of customer integration enhance the relationship between customer co-production and service quality performance is not supported. Finally, when customer co-production, which takes place when the customer takes a part in the core service provided is high, an improvement in service quality can be observed.The results of this study would benefit service managers to gain a better understanding of how QCIs influence the relationship between customer integration and customer coproduction and service quality performance

A review of service quality and service delivery: Towards a customer co-production and customer-integration approach

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an overview of the service quality and delivery domain, focussing on the inclusion of customer co-production and customer integration. Specifically, this paper concentrates on service quality (including quality measurement), the service environment, controls and their consequences. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive review of the literature is conducted, analysed and presented. Findings: The review shows that service delivery is both complex and challenging, particularly when considering the unique characteristics of services and the high level of customer involvement in their creation. The facilitation, transformation and usage framework identifies how failures can occur at each stage of service delivery, beginning with the characteristics of the service environment, while control theory offers insights into the formal and informal controls that may be applied in the facilitation and transformation stages, which may reduce the likelihood or extent of such failures. Originality/value: Despite the fact that it is widely accepted that service quality is an antecedent to customer satisfaction, it is surprising that this customer co-creation aspect has been largely neglected in the extant literature. As such, the role that customer co-production plays in service quality performance has been examined in this paper. It is hoped that this examination will enhance both theoretical and practical understanding of service quality. It would be useful to find modern tools that can help in improving service quality performance

A New Improved Storage Model of Wireless Devices using the Cloud

This paper focuses on the development of new storage model by using cloud computing for mobile devises. The concept of cloud computing has been applied to mobile devices for improving the existing model (battery time and data saving) of mobile devices. In the recent eras, different types of cloud computing techniques have been used for improving the efficiency of mobile devices. The paper has combined the calibration and current launch amount characteristics with the trial results for drop in battery voltage. A mathematical equation has been derived for mote operation scenario. Through this equation, the power provide by the power supply as well as the average time of battery can be measured

Topology Management in Wireless Sensor Networks: Multi-State Algorithms

In order to maximize the network’s lifetime and ensure the connectivity among the nodes, most topology management practices use a subgroup of nodes for routing. This paper provides an in-depth look at existing topology management control algorithms in Multi-state structure. We suggest a new algorithm based on Geographical Adaptive Fidelity (GAF) and Adaptive Self-Configuring Sensor Networks Topology (ASCENT). The new proposed algorithm outperforms both GAF and ASCENT algorithms

Méthodes de dénombrement des bactéries du rumen de mouton

Afin de mieux comprendre l’écosystème rumen par l’étude de l’évolution du nombre des bactéries totales et celui de certaines flores spécifiques, deux techniques de quantification sur filtre sont proposées.(i) L'acridine orange est un fluorochrome qui se fixe sur les acides nucléiques de toutes les bactéries et permet de les colorer en vue de les dénombrer. Parallèlement, les cellules viables ont été dénombrées par culture en milieu solide pour comparaison. Les nombres obtenus par la technique de coloration ont été supérieurs à ceux des cellules viables d’une unité logarithmique, du fait que la première technique tient compte à la fois des cellules vivantes et mortes. (ii) L'immunofluorescence indirecte, basée sur des anticorps polyclonaux dirigés contre dix souches naturellement majoritaires du rumen de mouton, a été également utilisée pour le dénombrement de ces souches en fonction du temps. Les résultats obtenus montrent une bonne spécificité des anticorps et un suivi efficace des différentes souches utilisées

The Association of Persistent Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety with Recurrent Acute Coronary Syndrome Events: A Prospective Observational Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of persistent symptoms of depression and anxiety in a second acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event. Data presented in this study were from an RCT study. A follow-up for 24 months after baseline to detect a second ACS event among 1162 patients from five hospitals. Hierarchal Cox regression analyses were used. The results showed that persistent depression only (HR 2.27; 95% CI: 1.35–3.81; p = 0.002), and comorbid persistent depression and anxiety (HR 2.03; 95% CI: 1.03–3.98; p = 0.040) were the significant predictors of a second ACS event. Secondary education level compared to primary educational level (HR 0.63; 95% CI: 0.43–0.93; p = 0.020) and college or more education level compared to primary educational level (HR 0.47; 95% CI: 0.27–0.84; p = 0.011) were the only demographic variables that were significant predictors of a second event. The study reveals that attention must be paid by healthcare providers to assess and manage persistent depression; particularly when it is co-morbid with anxiety

Anti-tumor properties of black seed (Nigella Sativa)extract

Abstract The objective of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effect of Nigella sativa L. seed extracts. The essential oil (IC 50 = 0.6%, v/v) and ethyl acetate (IC 50 = 0.75%) extracts were more cytotoxic against the P815 cell line than the butanol extract (IC 50 = 2%). Similar results were obtained with the Vero cell line. Although all extracts had a comparable cytotoxic effect against the ICO1 cell line, with IC 50 values ranging from 0.2 to 0.26% (v/v), tests on the BSR cell line revealed a high cytotoxic effect of the ethyl acetate extract (IC 50 = 0.2%) compared to the essential oil (IC 50 = 1.2%). These data show that the cytotoxicity of each extract depends on the tumor cell type. In vivo, using the DBA2/P815 (H 2 d ) mouse model, our results clearly showed that the injection of the essential oil into the tumor site significantly inhibited solid tumor development. Indeed, on the 30th day of treatment, the tumor volume of the control animals was 2.5 ± 0.6 cm 3 , whereas the tumor volumes of the essential oil-treated animals were 0.22 ± 0.1 and 0.16 ± 0.1 cm 3 when the animals were injected with 30 µL (28.5 mg)/mouse and 50 µL (47.5 mg)/mouse per 48 h (six times), respectively. Interestingly, the administration of the essential oil into the tumor site inhibited the incidence of liver metastasis development and improved mouse survival

Anti-tumor properties of blackseed (Nigella sativa L.) extracts

Abstract The objective of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effect of Nigella sativa L. seed extracts. The essential oil (IC 50 = 0.6%, v/v) and ethyl acetate (IC 50 = 0.75%) extracts were more cytotoxic against the P815 cell line than the butanol extract (IC 50 = 2%). Similar results were obtained with the Vero cell line. Although all extracts had a comparable cytotoxic effect against the ICO1 cell line, with IC 50 values ranging from 0.2 to 0.26% (v/v), tests on the BSR cell line revealed a high cytotoxic effect of the ethyl acetate extract (IC 50 = 0.2%) compared to the essential oil (IC 50 = 1.2%). These data show that the cytotoxicity of each extract depends on the tumor cell type. In vivo, using the DBA2/P815 (H 2 d ) mouse model, our results clearly showed that the injection of the essential oil into the tumor site significantly inhibited solid tumor development. Indeed, on the 30th day of treatment, the tumor volume of the control animals was 2.5 ± 0.6 cm 3 , whereas the tumor volumes of the essential oil-treated animals were 0.22 ± 0.1 and 0.16 ± 0.1 cm 3 when the animals were injected with 30 µL (28.5 mg)/mouse and 50 µL (47.5 mg)/mouse per 48 h (six times), respectively. Interestingly, the administration of the essential oil into the tumor site inhibited the incidence of liver metastasis development and improved mouse survival. Correspondence A. Zya