The role of product involvement in e-service evaluations

This paper provides conceptual and empirical insights into consumers' evaluations of online services and their consequent behavioural intentions. We show that behavioural intentions in online contexts are driven primarily by two factors, namely online service satisfaction and perceived service quality. Perceived sacrifice and service quality are found to have an indirect effect on online service satisfaction through their influences on perceived value associated with the online service. In addition, we examine the moderating effects of product involvement and discuss the implications of our research findings. Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Publishers

Supersonic strain front driven by a dense electron-hole plasma

We study coherent strain in (001) Ge generated by an ultrafast laser-initiated high density electron-hole plasma. The resultant coherent pulse is probed by time-resolved x-ray diffraction through changes in the anomalous transmission. The acoustic pulse front is driven by ambipolar diffusion of the electron-hole plasma and propagates into the crystal at supersonic speeds. Simulations of the strain including electron-phonon coupling, modified by carrier diffusion and Auger recombination, are in good agreement with the observed dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Feedback on video recorded consultations in medical teaching: why students loathe and love it – a focus-group based qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Feedback on videotaped consultations is a useful way to enhance consultation skills among medical students. The method is becoming increasingly common, but is still not widely implemented in medical education. One obstacle might be that many students seem to consider this educational approach a stressful experience and are reluctant to participate. In order to improve the process and make it more acceptable to the participants, we wanted to identify possible problems experienced by students when making and receiving feedback on their video taped consultations. METHODS: Nineteen of 75 students at the University of Bergen, Norway, participating in a consultation course in their final term of medical school underwent focus group interviews immediately following a video-based feedback session. The material was audio-taped, transcribed, and analysed by phenomenological qualitative analysis. RESULTS: The study uncovered that some students experienced emotional distress before the start of the course. They were apprehensive and lacking in confidence, expressing fear about exposing lack of skills and competence in front of each other. The video evaluation session and feedback process were evaluated positively however, and they found that their worries had been exaggerated. The video evaluation process also seemed to help strengthen the students' self esteem and self-confidence, and they welcomed this. CONCLUSION: Our study provides insight regarding the vulnerability of students receiving feedback from videotaped consultations and their need for reassurance and support in the process, and demonstrates the importance of carefully considering the design and execution of such educational programs

Service staff attitudes, organisational practices and performance drivers

We provide conceptual and empirical insights elucidating how organisational practices influence service staff attitudes and behaviours and how the latter set affects organisational performance drivers. Our analyses suggest that service organisations can enhance their performance by putting in place strategies and practices that strengthen the service-oriented behaviours of their employees and reduce their intentions to leave the organisation. Improved performance is accomplished through both the delivery of high quality services (enhancing organisational effectiveness) and the maintenance of front-line staff (increasing organisational efficiency). Specifically, service-oriented business strategies in the form of organisational-level service orientation and practices in the form of training directly influence the manifest service-oriented behaviours of staff. Training also indirectly affects the intention of front-line staff to leave the organisation; it increases job satisfaction, which, in turn has an impact on affective commitment. Both affective and instrumental commitment were hypothesised to reduce the intentions of front-line staff to leave the organisation, however only affective commitment had a significant effect

The impact of internal and external market orientation on performance in local public organisations

Projeto Estratégico PEst-OE/EGE/UI4021/2011Purpose –This study builds on and extends the literature of market orientation by examining the impact of sub-dimensions of both internal and external market orientation on financial and non-financial performance in the local public sector context. Design/methodology/approach – In line with previous studies on market orientation, a quantitative research design was adopted. The data collection was performed through a mail survey of a sample of local Portuguese public organisations (municipality executive board members). Structural equation modelling was used as a means to analyse the hypothesised relationships. Findings- Six out of twelve hypotheses are supported. Concerning the sub-components of external market orientation, the study finds that the dissemination and responsiveness of external information impacts strongly on non-financial performance. In turn, external information generation and responsiveness impacts positively on financial performance. With respect to internal market orientation, results revealed a lower impact of different sub-dimensions on performance. Specifically, the only dimension that impacts positively on organisational performance (financial and non-financial) is internal information generation. This reinforces the view that there is a need to strengthen internal information dissemination and responsiveness to enhance organisational performance. Research limitations/implications: This study was restricted to public sector organisations of a specific region of Portugal and used cross-sectional data to test the research model and hypotheses. Future research could usefully investigate the application of these models to other non-profit sectors and use longitudinal designs to test the results reported herein. Practical implications – In order to ensure efficient collection and dissemination of and responsiveness to intelligence which can be addressed internally and externally, practitioners and researchers need to be aware of the importance of the internal and external components of market orientation as these influence financial and non-financial performance of an organisation in different ways. This information may contribute to the formulation of more effective marketing strategies and a more selective allocation of resources. Originality/value- This paper offers original and unique findings and to the best of our knowledge this research is one of the few studies addressing the role of internal and external sub-dimensions of market orientation on performance in the local public sector. The findings of this study add weight to the recent emphasis on disaggregate approaches to (internal and external) market orientation – performance link.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT