Implementation and Effectiveness of Strategic Actions Used to Reduce Employee Variability in the Service Sector

Employee variability can have significant adverse effects on service delivery and customers’ perceptions of service quality. However, the types of employee variability that exist and the appropriate actions required to address these various types of variability have not been systematically examined. This pioneering study systematically develops a typology of employee variability consisting of six categories: (i) understanding variability; (ii) attitude variability; (iii) capability variability; (iv) method variability; (v) effort variability; and (vi) decision variability. The study also suggests strategic actions that can be used to reduce the effects of each kind of variability. The present study categorises the strategic actions to address employee variability into four groups: (i) classic accommodation (CA); (ii) classic reduction (CR); (iii) low-cost accommodation (LC); and (iv) uncompromised reduction (UR). An empirical study is then conducted among 97 reputable Taiwanese service firms. The results shows that the respondent companies prefer the traditional CA and CR strategies. In contrast, the LC strategies are relatively neglected, despite their potential for producing a significant reduction in the adverse effects of employee variability. The study concludes that service providers should place greater emphasis on the implementation of automated low-cost strategies to reduce the undesirable effects of employee variability

Reduce customer variability and improve service quality - The case of hotel industry

The present study defines customers’ uncertainty and variations as ‘customer variability’, and it is systematically categorized into six types; ‘arrival variability’, ‘request variability’, ‘explanation variability’, ‘capability variability’, ‘effort variability’, and ‘variability in subjective preference’. The study also organises the strategic actions that can be adopted to reduce the adverse effects of the six kinds of customer variability, which are divided into four categories; ‘classic accommodation’, ‘classic reduction’, ‘low-cost accommodation’, and ‘uncompromised reduction’. This research then conducts an empirical study to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of these strategic actions for the hotel industry in Taiwan. From the analytic results, it can be found that the hotels favour the use of ‘classic accommodation’ actions to overcome customer variability. Most of the strategic actions belonging to the other three categories are relatively neglected by the hospitality industry, but there are of potentially effective actions to overcome the customer variability. The study concludes that hotels need to pay more attention to these neglected actions in order to reduce the adverse affect on service quality caused by customer variability, and then raise the customer loyalty

The Impact of Leadership to Job Satisfaction and Job Performance – An Empirical Study in the Taiwanese Gaming Machine Manufacture Industry Employees

This study is to explore the relationship between leadership, job satisfaction, and job performance in a gaming machine manufacture with social support as moderating variable which is to test whether there is moderating effect causing by social support between leadership and job satisfaction. This study subject is 125 employees from gaming machine manufacture in Taiwan. The results reveal that leadership has significant positive impact on job satisfaction; job satisfaction has significant positive impact on job performance and social support has no moderating effect between leadership and job satisfaction.

Establishment and applications of quality management system for service industries

Purpose: Because of the limited resources and lack of knowledge and experience related to quality management, the service firms perform very few quality practices only, and result in a very limited effectiveness. In this research try to develop a systematic framework of quality management with several hierarchical constructs for service industries. Research methodology: This study also used Delphi and AHP method to examine the importance and the priorities of the five quality management stages and their involving practice activities, which are the valuable guideline for the service industries to successfully implement the quality management. Results: It is found that the service enterprises need to first assure the quality in service encounter, then can upgrade the implementation levels to delivery process and management system. But the practices in ‘total quality’ stage are the fundamental forces of the implementation of quality practices in the initial stages. Limitations: The AHP experts only comment on this issue not applicable to all industries. The research findings apply only to the service industry. Contribution: The service enterprises need to perform TQM successfully. After all the previous stages of quality management are performed very well, the service enterprises can raise the implementation level to the business quality. Keywords: Service industries, Service quality, Hierarchical quality management system, AHP metho

Coexistence of anterior communicating artery aneurysm and tuberculum sellae meningioma

SummaryTuberculum sellae meningioma is a common intracranial tumor. However, its coexistence with an intratumoral aneurysm is rare. Here, we present the case of a 65-year-old woman with progressive vision loss caused by a tuberculum sellae meningioma coexisting with an intratumoral anterior communicating artery aneurysm. Treatment modalities for patients with this rare coexisting pathology were reviewed. When an intracranial tumor is closely related to the major intracranial vessel, preoperative magnetic resonance imaging angiography, a safe and noninvasive imaging study, is suggested for the early diagnosis of a possible coexisting aneurysm and for reducing the risk of intraoperative aneurysm rupture

Treatment of breast deformity with free deep inferior epigastric perforator flap secondary to pectoralis major flap harvesting

SummaryHead and neck cancer is less common in women than in men. Free tissue transfer is the first choice in reconstructive option for head and neck tumor. Pedicle pectoralis major (PM) flap was a common option in head neck reconstruction in the past, but has become the salvage procedure when free flap fails. However, it is not suitable for female patients because of severe breast deformity and induced psychosocial distress. We present a female patient who had breast deformity due to PM flap reconstruction and was successfully treated with free deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap. A 48-year-old woman had squamous cell carcinoma in the left side buccal mucosa, T2N0M0, stage II s/p wide excision with partial resection of maxilla and marginal resection of mandible. Free anterolateral thigh flap had been tried but in vain, then alternatively salvaged with a pedicle PM flap 3 years earlier. She presented with malposition of the left breast, nipple retraction, and high riding. We adequately released the contracture and reconstructed with a free DIEP flap. The free DIEP flap survived completely and restored a balanced breast with good shape and symmetry at 1-year follow-up. Although PM flap is a good modality in head and neck reconstruction, it should be used cautiously especially in female patients. The free DIEP flap is not only suitable for breast reconstruction in breast cancer patient, but also a good choice for a different purpose of breast reconstruction such as this patient with breast deformity due to PM flap harvest

Clonal dissemination of the multi-drug resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Braenderup, but not the serovar Bareilly, of prevalent serogroup C1 Salmonella from Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nontyphoidal <it>Salmonella </it>is the main cause of human salmonellosis. In order to study the prevalent serogroups and serovars of clinical isolates in Taiwan, 8931 <it>Salmonellae </it>isolates were collected from 19 medical centers and district hospitals throughout the country from 2004 to 2007. The pulsed-field eletrophoresis types (PFGE) and antibiotic resistance profiles of <it>Salmonella enterica </it>serovars Bareilly (<it>S</it>. Bareilly) and Braenderup (<it>S</it>. Braenderup) were compared, and multi-drug resistance (MDR) plasmids were characterized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 95% of human salmonellosis in Taiwan was caused by five <it>Salmonella </it>serogroups: B, C1, C2-C3, D1, and E1. <it>S</it>. Typhymurium, <it>S</it>. Enteritidis, <it>S</it>. Stanley and <it>S</it>. Newport were the four most prevalent serovars, accounting for about 64% of isolates. While only one or two major serovars from four of the most prevalent serogroups were represented, four predominant serovars were found in serogroup C1 <it>Salmonellae</it>. The prevalence was decreasing for <it>S</it>. Choleraeuis and <it>S</it>. Braenderup, and S. Virchow and increasing for <it>S</it>. Bareilly. <it>S</it>. Braenderup mainly caused gastroenteritis in children; in contrast, <it>S</it>. Bareiley infected children and elderly people. Both serovars differed by <it>Xba</it>I-PFGE patterns. Almost all <it>S</it>. Bareilly isolates were susceptible to antibiotics of interest, while all lacked plasmids and belonged to one clone. Two distinct major clones in <it>S</it>. Braenderup were cluster A, mainly including MDR isolates with large MDR plasmid from North Taiwan, and cluster B, mainly containing susceptible isolates without R plasmid from South Taiwan. In cluster A, there were two types of conjugative R plasmids with sizes ranging from 75 to 130 kb. Type 1 plasmids consisted of replicons F1A/F1B, <it>bla</it>_TEM, IS<it>26</it>, and a class 1 integron with the genes <it>dfrA12</it>-<it>orfF</it>-<it>aadA2-qacE</it>Δ1-<it>sulI</it>. Type 2 plasmids belonged to incompatibility group Inc<it>I</it>, contained <it>tnpA</it>-<it>bla</it>_CMY-2-<it>blc</it>-<it>sugE </it>genetic structures and lacked both IS<it>26 </it>and class 1 integrons. Although type 2 plasmids showed higher conjugation capability, type 1 plasmids were the predominant plasmid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Serogroups B, C1, C2-C3, D1, and E1 of <it>Salmonella </it>caused over 95% of human salmonellosis. Two prevalent serovars within serogroup C1, <it>S</it>. Bareilly and cluster B of S. Braenderup, were clonal and drug-susceptible. However, cluster A of <it>S</it>. Braenderup was MDR and probably derived from susceptible isolates by acquiring one of two distinct conjugative R plasmids.</p