COBRA framework to evaluate e-government services: A citizen-centric perspective

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users' satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users' satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens' perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crown Copyright © 2014.PIAP-GA-2008-230658) from the European Union Framework Program and another grant (NPRP 09-1023-5-158) from the Qatar National Research Fund (amember of Qatar Foundation

A cognitive analytics management framework (CAM-part 1): SAMAS components, leadership, frontier performance growth, and sustainable shared value

In this chapter, the current world's challenges, shortcomings of strategic performance measurement, and management methodologies are analyzed to introduce the new Cognitive Analytics Management (CAM) framework. CAM uses five components (SAMAS): Shared values to stakeholders; cognitive Analytics to generate applied insights; Mission, vision, and goals to develop corporate strategy; Activities to create-innovative models, products, and services-using various organizations' supporting Structure from people, process, regulation, and technology to develop smart organizations. The efficient frontier data envelopment analysis is proposed to generate performance measures and derive insights from best practices. The input-efficiency and output-effectiveness performances are used to prioritize scenarios. Insights from the best scenarios are used to improve inefficient ones, to manage performance, and to boost productivity growth. CAM also introduces a new cognitive leadership concept to help making informed decisions in a smart competitive world while alleviating societal challenges. Finally, CAM implementation roadmap, supporting literature, and new research innovations are provided.Scopu

An integrated approach of data envelopment analysis and boosted generalized linear mixed models for efficiency assessment

Performance evaluation is an important part in the management of any decision-making unit (DMU) as it identifies sources of managerial inefficiencies and provides a policy for inefficient DMUs to improve their efficiency. The latter is generally affected by environmental variables that are beyond managerial control. Modeling the impact of these environmental variables is a critical issue for both researchers and practitioners. Researchers developed and proposed several methods to deal with this issue in general and in the data envelopment analysis (DEA) literature in particular. However, the available two-stage DEA methods do not account for interdependence between observations and they are of limited use when the number of variables is fairly large. This paper proposes an integrated framework combining DEA, and boosted generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) that accounts for the interdependence problem when studying the impact of environmental variables on performance. Additionally, the framework carries out variable selection. The framework is illustrated with a sample of 151 commercial banks from Middle East and North African countries.Scopu

Green Customer and Supplier Integration for Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Effect of Sustainable Product Innovation

The purpose of this study is two-fold: first is to examine the direct effect of green customer integration, green supplier integration, and new product flexibility on sustainable green product innovation (henceforth sustainable innovation), and the second is to assess the mediating role of sustainable green product innovation in the relationship of the independent variables on competitive advantage of the firm. To test these relationships, a quantitative method is used, employing a cross-sectional survey targeting the senior managers of the manufacturing sector in Jordan. Out of 750 surveys administered to respondents, 378 complete responses were obtained, yielding a response rate of 50.4%. Covariance-based structural equation modelling (CBSEM) using AMOS 28 is utilized to analyse the data. The results suggest that green customer integration, green supplier integration, and new product flexibility have a significant impact on sustainable green product innovation. The results also suggest that sustainable green product innovation has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between the three predictor variables and competitive advantage. In addition, new product flexibility partially mediates the relationship between green supplier integration and sustainable green product innovation

A cognitive analytics management framework to select input and output variables for data envelopment analysis modeling of performance efficiency of banks using random forest and entropy of information

The efficiency of banks has a critical role in development of sound financial systems of countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has witnessed an increase in popularity for modeling the performance efficiency of banks. Such efficiency depends on the appropriate selection of input and output variables. In literature, no agreement exists on the selection of relevant variables. The disagreement has been an on-going debate among academic experts, and no diagnostic tools exist to identify variable misspecifications. A cognitive analytics management framework is proposed using three processes to address misspecifications. The cognitive process conducts an extensive review to identify the most common set of variables. The analytics process integrates a random forest method; a simulation method with a DEA measurement feedback; and Shannon Entropy to select the best DEA model and its relevant variables. Finally, a management process discusses the managerial insights to manage performance and impacts. A sample of data is collected on 303 top-world banks for the periods 2013 to 2015 from 49 countries. The experimental simulation results identified the best DEA model along with its associated variables, and addressed the misclassification of the total deposits. The paper concludes with the limitations and future research directions.- The National Research Center of Lebanon. - The University Research Board of the American University of Beiru

Customer satisfaction and its measurement in Islamic banking sector: a revisit and update

Purpose The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: How to measure customer satisfaction from the provisioning service of both: Islamic and Conventional banks? Can we trust one tool to measure such satisfaction or both banks are different identities and there is a need for separate measurement tool? What is the relationship between banks operating style (Islamic or Conventional) and bank performance? Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design was conducted to analyze a sample of customers. A total of 480 Jordanian participants were included in the study. Findings The results of confirmatory factor analysis show that the most important drivers of customer satisfaction are Sharia’ compliance, complaints, pricing and convenience, whereas the least important drivers are e-banking, the perception of employees, enjoyment and tangibles. Also, the result of the multi-group analysis shows that the significant impacts of all drivers on customer satisfaction differ from Islamic banks to Conventional banks except for the enjoyment. The significant effects of customer satisfaction on bank performance also differ from Islamic to Conventional banks. Research limitations/implications The result is limited to the selected sample, and hence, future research in other countries should contribute to a better understanding of the impact of customer satisfaction relationship on bank success or performance. Practical implications This study provides a useful information for bank managers on the main driver of customer satisfaction and performance. Originality/value This study is intended to add to the existing literature in three ways: There is a lack of studies on the main drivers of customer satisfaction, especially those based on a consumer’s decision-making process in Arabic countries like Jordan. This study broadens the scope by testing the proposed model using data from a sample of consumers in Jordan. This study serves to propose and validate the drivers that influence customer satisfaction and bank performance and elucidate the manner of their influence, to help with the development of more effective business strategies.Scopu

Competitive priorities for regional operations: a Delphi study

Perceptions and principles of competitiveness in the context of production and operations management (POM) have evolved over time towards trends in which firms compete at supply chain level. This evolution underscores the need for competitive priorities to be re-evaluated from time to time. The purpose of this article is to explore how POM experts perceive and rate competitive priorities for regional operations. The article presents a Delphi-based study with a panel of seventy POM experts from the Sultanate of Oman in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. It applies a constructivist epistemology in a three-round Delphi Exercise to identify, select and prioritise the key competitive priorities perceived by panel experts. Nonparametric statistics test the dichotomous responses and levels of concordance and discordance of ranked outcome variables among the Delphi panellists. The analysis identifies nineteen competitive priorities thematically clustered into five orientations for productivity-efficiency, relationship-building, technology-enabled, environmentally-conscious and conformance-improvement. Polled results show heterogeneity during both selection (Cochran's Q: p < 0.05) and prioritisation (Friedman’s Q: p < 0.05) rounds. The conformance-improvement orientation consistently produced the top ranked priorities in the Delphi rounds. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed and potential future research areas on examining coordinate systems for POM strategy and modelling ecological and field views of POM are also elaborated.Open Access funding is provided by the Qatar National Library

Wisdom from Arabian networks: a review and theory of regional supply chain management

The purpose of this article is to present a systematic review of the supply chain management (SCM) research on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Using 75 journal articles from high quality SCM-related publication outlets, the review finds three main SCM complexities of managing supply chain uncertainty: (i) strategically selecting and integrating network resources, (ii) reliably contracting and delivering high-quality solutions, and (iii) cost-effectively controlling and financing operational expansions. The review also finds that managers configure supply chains involving GCC countries with emphasis on ‘productivity–efficiency’, ‘relationship-building’, ‘technology-enabling’, ‘environmental-consciousness’, and ‘conformance-improvement’ orientations. These orientations represent the different themes for competitiveness at chain–chain levels. With insights from the review, the article develops foundations for an orientation theory, a culturation theory and an organic view of supply chains. The article also discusses prospects for future regional SCM research

2011b), “COBRA Framework to Evaluate E-Government Services: A Citizen-Centric Perspective”, Working paper to be published in Government Information Quarterly journal

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users&apos; satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users&apos; satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens&apos; perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crow