bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking efficiency of public passenger transport in larger cities
Authors: Hilmola Olli‐Pekka 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate public transportation efficiency in larger cities. Global agreements to decrease environmental emissions in the future (CO2), world‐wide decreasing reserves of oil, and growing population in larger cities is the main motivation to develop efficiency benchmarking measurement models for public transportation systems, and gives reason for this research work. Also, from the point of view of the city, data envelopment analysis (DEA) based efficiency measurement has not been researched earlier, which is another motivation for this study from the method development perspective.Design/methodology/approachFour different DEA‐based efficiency benchmarking models are used to evaluate public transportation efficiency in larger cities. Data are from year 2001, and amount of analyzed cities in smaller DEA model is 52 and in larger 43. This gives statistical significance and efficiency measurement confidence over the results.FindingsMedium‐sized, old and central European cities such as Bern, Munich, Prague and Zürich show frontier performance in all four models. Mega‐cities fail to reach frontier and/or good performance in small “services used” DEA model. However, some other medium‐sized cities show contrarian behaviour for “space used” DEA model. Lowest performance is more divergent in the analyses, but is found from Spanish cities, Athens, Middle East and North America. The author also found support from regression analysis that higher DEA efficiency results in lower share of private car use in large cities.Research limitations/implicationsThis research work uses only year 2001 data, and should be repeated in the future as public transportation data18base is being updated. The research is also limited on the use of DEA method, and other efficiency measurement methods should be used to verify the results further.Originality/valueAccording to the author's knowledge, this research work is seminal from the city‐level DEA efficiency benchmarking studies concerning public passenger transportation systems. Earlier research works have concerned actors (e.g. bus companies or rail operators), but the overall picture from the city level has not been researched before.
Selection of third‐party reverse logistics provider using fuzzy extent analysis
Authors: Govindan Kannan , Murugesan P. 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a structured model for the selection of a third‐party reverse logistics provider (3PRLP) under fuzzy environment for the battery industry, which establishes the relative weights for attributes and sub‐attributes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses fuzzy extent analysis to solve the 3PRLP selection problem.FindingsOwing to growing environmental legislations, reverse logistics (RL) has attained more importance among practitioners and academicians. The important decision related to RL is whether the company should maintain the separate RL system or whether it can be outsourced. RL takes 12 times as many steps to process returns as it does to manage outbound logistics (Accenture supply chain management practice), consequently many companies decided to outsource the RL activities or functions through 3PRLPs. The paper proposes a way of selecting the best 3PRLP using fuzzy extent analysis.Research limitations/implicationsFuzzy extent analysis is a highly multi‐faceted methodology which requires more numerical calculations and increases the time to take a decision. A limitation of this work is that in this study only fuzzy extent analysis has been concentrated on and other multi‐criteria decision‐making methods such as VIKOR, TOPSIS and ELECTRE can be applied in a fuzzy environment for solving such problems.Originality/valueIn this research, seven attributes and 34 sub‐attributes are considered and the interpretation of RL attributes in terms of their pair‐wise comparisons has been carried out. Those attributes possessing lower priorities in the fuzzy extent analysis need to be taken care of on a selection of the best 3PRLP.
Product Service Systems and supply network relationships: an exploratory case study
Authors: Lockett Helen , Johnson Mark , Evans Steve , Bastl Marko 
Published: February 2011

PurposeIn recent years there has been increasing interest in Product Service Systems (PSSs) as a business model for selling integrated product and service offerings. To date, there has been extensive research into the benefits of PSS to manufacturers and their customers, but there has been limited research into the effect of PSS on the upstream supply chain. This paper seeks to address this gap in the research.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses case‐based research which is appropriate for exploratory research of this type. In‐depth interviews were conducted with key personnel in a focal firm and two members of its supply chain, and the results were analysed to identify emergent themes.FindingsThe research has identified differences in supplier behaviour dependent on their role in PSS delivery and their relationship with the PSS provider. In particular, it suggests that for a successful partnership it is important to align the objectives between PSS provider and suppliers.Originality/valueThis research provides a detailed investigation into a PSS supply chain and highlights the complexity of roles and relationships among the organizations within it. It will be of value to other PSS researchers and organizations transitioning to the delivery of PSS.
Information dependencies within product architecture: prospects of complexity reduction
Authors: Shamsuzzoha A.H.M. , Helo Petri T. 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to help organizational managers to keep track of the information management needed not only for product design and development but also to track between different organizational levels.Design/methodology/approachThe research objectives are achieved through implementing the concept in a case company, where various measures of information management are taken into consideration. This empirical study is conducted with a view to formulating and validating the information flow among product development (PD) participants.FindingsThe strategic management of information exchange transforms the nature of competition through reducing complexities in product design and bringing flexibility into the production process. This achievement could orientate firms towards rapid and continuous growth of their PD strategies, which are essential for survival in a global business environment.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was conducted through a single case study approach, which limits its scope for generalizing the concept. It would be more authentic if the approach was validated over multiple case studies.Practical implicationsManaging the information flow among PD participants has been considered to be an important issue in today's competitive business environment. It helps to formulate the design architecture, both at the product and organizational level.Originality/valueThe strategic management of information exchange transforms the structure of product architecture, which helps to reduce the complexities in product design and bring flexibility into the production process. The presented approach shows the intrinsic relationships between firms' resources and customers' requirements, which could help product developers to improve their production flexibility, overcome bottlenecks and achieve product customization.
Linking flexibility and entrepreneurship to the performances of SMEs in export markets
Authors: Rundh Bo 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to explore how small and medium‐sized firms (SMEs) are meeting market needs in their export marketing strategy (EMS).Design/methodology/approachA combination of research methods were adopted including expert interviews and a survey among 212 SME exporting firms in the manufacturing industry.FindingsThe study offers insight into how exporting firms need to consider different market aspects in their EMS. It confirms the importance of product quality and the significance of flexibility in relation to local export markets. The study highlights a need for service to the market, in addition to a need for fulfilling service requirements when the firm is established in the local market.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to SMEs in the manufacturing industry.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the interface between marketing and entrepreneurship in an international context. The managerial implications emphasize the importance of flexibility in the international market entry.
Measuring the probability of innovation in technology‐based companies
Authors: Lotti Oliva Fábio , Cecília Sobral Maria , Aparecido dos Santos Silvio , Isnard Ribeiro de Almeida Martinho , Cláudio de Hildebrand e Grisi Celso 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the level of innovation of products, processes and services in technology‐based incubated companies.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of this review, the stages of development of companies incubated in the Incubating Center for Technological Companies São Paulo, Brazil, were analyzed and through the integration of three different statistical techniques (factorial analysis, cluster analysis and logistic regression), a basis for analyses and considerations was obtained: the companies studied were segregated into clusters according to each one's stage of innovation.FindingsA statistical model was estimated to calculate the probability of innovation of the companies – a methodological tool for evaluating the actual presence of innovation in technology‐based companies installed in incubators.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the nature of the sample chosen, the results might not be generalized to broader or international contexts.Practical implicationsThe estimated model should contribute as an analytical tool to incubators in evaluating the probability of innovation in technology‐based incubated companies.Social implicationsWith the use of this analytical model, incubators should be more capable of developing strategies to stimulate innovation.Originality/valueThis paper reviews widely the contributions of authors concerning factors of innovation in order to present a model drawn from three different multivariate analyses. Furthermore, the theme of innovation assessment in technology‐based incubators has few contributions.
Measuring agility as a performance outcome
Authors: Yauch Charlene A. 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to construct a quantitative, objective metric for agility performance that assesses agility as a performance outcome, capturing both organizational success and environmental turbulence, and applicable to manufacturing organizations of all types.Design/methodology/approachThe agility performance metric was developed by creating a theoretical model and then operationalizing the model through literature review, case studies, and pilot survey data. It was subsequently refined, based on input from an expert panel and survey responses.FindingsThe agility performance metric is demonstrated using data from four manufacturing plants, which represent the four possible combinations of success and turbulence.Research limitations/implicationsThe agility metric developed is consistent with the theoretical model, as well as empirical evidence from the demonstration companies. Further validation of the metric is necessary to fully establish this approach as a valid and reliable assessment tool.Practical implicationsThis approach could be used by manufacturing managers to get a “snapshot” of an organization's agility performance level and to systematically consider the influence of environmental entities.Originality/valueConsideration of agility as a performance outcome, rather than a structural or operational characteristic is a novel approach. The resulting quantitative performance index, which closely matches the theoretical definition of agility, is applicable to any type of manufacturing organization, can be used to make direct comparisons between manufacturers in different industries, and will automatically be updated over time as success is relative to industry medians.
Perception of social justice implication in brain drain management in Iranian educational institutions
Authors: Salmani Davood , Taleghani Gholamreza , Taatian Ali 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study brain drain as a social problem and elaborate a five‐dimensional social justice model as the main cause of brain drain. The paper explores the effects of distributional justice, emotional justice, procedural justice, transactional justice, and informational justice on brain drain intention.Design/methodology/approachThe method of research is survey method. This research is functional in terms of target and is descriptive. Moreover, the research is a field study from the information gathering perspective; and from the aspect of relationship between variables, it has casual type.FindingsThe results of this study demonstrate that justice is a critical issue among the scientific elites of Iranian society. This study demonstrates the existence of a negative relationship between social justice and intention to emigrate (brain drain) in Iran.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the lack of precise statistical information in this area, the paper seeks to critically analyze the brain drain phenomenon in Iran. The use of questionnaire meant that more in‐depth analysis was not possible to obtain.Practical implicationsIt is important to prevent elite emigration, particularly since elites represent vital cultural, social, and economic capital. In relation to informational justice, which is not likely to act as a single cause of brain drain but acts in concert with other factors, it should be recalled that communication plays a vital role.Originality/valueSurprisingly, no empirical research has yet been done in Iran to examine possible relationship between occurrence and/or the rate of the talent flow and social justice.
Career success of Arab women managers: an empirical study in Lebanon
Authors: Tlaiss Hayfaa , Kauser Saleema 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how women managers in Lebanon account for their career satisfaction and construct their career success.Design/methodology/approachA review of literature along with a survey‐based quantitative approach is adopted for understanding the perception of the Lebanese Arab women to their career success. The questionnaire was administered to women participants in managerial and executive roles in different occupational sectors.FindingsThe findings suggest that despite the glass ceiling that the Lebanese women managers face, they perceived themselves as successful. However, their success was mainly attributed to their satisfaction with the subjective rather than the objective aspects of their careers.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is three‐fold. First, and in view of the Western focus of similar research, this study contributes to the understudied area of research of women managers and their careers in the Arab Middle East. Second, through empirical research stemming from Lebanon, this paper confirms the salience of the glass ceiling in the non‐traditional Middle Eastern research locale. Third, it challenges the widespread notion that the subjective and the objective dimensions of career success are correlated. Although the findings cannot be generalized to the entire Middle‐Eastern Arab region, they demonstrate important differences in the concept of self‐perceived subjective and objective career success.
Analysing the preferred characteristics of frontline employees dealing with customer complaints
Authors: Gruber Thorsten , Abosag Ibrahim , Reppel Alexander E. , Szmigin Isabelle 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThis paper seeks to use the Kano model to gain a deeper understanding of attributes of effective frontline employees dealing with customer complainants in personal interactions. Previous research revealed that excitement factors deteriorate to basic factors over time. This research aims to investigate whether the same phenomenon holds true for attributes of service employees.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using Kano questionnaires from 272 respondents with complaining experience in the UK and Saudi Arabia, these being two countries at different stages of service sector development.FindingsThe analysis of the Kano questionnaires for the UK reveals that complaining customers take the contact employee's ability to listen carefully for granted. The Kano results for Saudi Arabia clearly indicate that complaining customers are (still) easier to delight than their UK counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsEven though the study has a sample size similar to several existing Kano studies, future research studies could still use larger probability samples that represent the broader (complaining) consumer population in the selected countries.Practical implicationsIf companies know what complaining customers expect, frontline employees may be trained to adapt their behaviour to their customers' underlying expectations. For this purpose, the paper gives several suggestions to managers to improve active complaint handling and management.Originality/valueThe study adds to the understanding of effective complaint handling. The findings are the first to show that employee factors that are performance factors in a highly developed service economy can still delight customers in a less developed service economy.
Using service gaps to classify quality attributes
Authors: Mal Kong Sia , Muthusamy Kanesan 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between the students' perceptions of service performance and the service gaps. The main objective is to investigate whether the relationship can be used for the mapping of quality attributes into four service quality factors.Design/methodology/approachUsing a 37‐item questionnaire developed from Grönroos' Perceived Service Quality model, a survey was carried out to collect primary data to measure the students' perceptions of service quality in a local private higher education institution. Service gaps were computed from the differences between students' perceptions of the services they received and their expectations of the same services. The perception scores were plotted vertically and the service gaps plotted horizontally on a graph with the overall mean perception score as the horizontal axis and the overall mean service gap as the vertical axis.FindingsIt appears that the relationship can be used to map the quality attributes into four quality factors, namely satisfier, critical, dissatisfier, and neutral, consistent with the model developed by Johnston and Heineke.Originality/valueThis is an alternative method to classify quality attributes using the service gaps data obtained from customer satisfaction surveys through the SERVQUAL instrument or modified versions. Together with the expectation‐service gap grid, both can be used for identifying service shortfalls and prioritisation of service improvement.
A new Kano's evaluation sheet
Authors: Lee Yu‐Cheng , Lin Shao‐Bin , Wang Ya‐Li 
Published: February 2011

PurposeKano's model is extensively applied in industry and by researchers. However, the model has a shortcoming in that enterprises cannot use it to evaluate the influences of quality attributes on product precisely; the lack of consideration of the different attribute strengths among 25 possible outcomes affects judgment of the categories in Kano's evaluation sheet. The aim of this study is to measure the quality attribute strength of 25 possible outcomes in the evaluation sheet to develop a new Kano's evaluation sheet to improve the accuracy of the classification of the quality attributes.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a new Kano's evaluation sheet, and defines the canonical and non‐canonical judgment of the evaluation sheet based on a novel “similarity” calculation which calculates the response frequency and the distance between canonical judgment and non‐canonical judgment.FindingsQuality attribute strength is probed and compared with the traditional Kano's evaluation sheet. The new Kano's evaluation sheet is more practical because it supports a precise judgment of the category of quality attributes. Empirical results also demonstrate that the new Kano's evaluation sheet is practical.Originality/valueThe new evaluation sheet presents not only a different logic of classification and statistical method for analyzing quality attributes, but also reviewed judgments of the category of quality attributes from Kano's traditional evaluation sheet.
A service quality map based on Kano's theory of attractive quality
Authors: Erto Pasquale , Vanacore Amalia , Staiano Michele 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a quantitative decision approach to the service quality management, developed on the basis of Kano's theory of attractive quality. The proposed approach aims at exploiting contacts with service made by “mystery guests” rather than traditional surveys on customer opinions.Design/methodology/approachA specific probabilistic model of the process of serving quality is the adopted basic tool. Multiple comparison tests aimed at controlling the service quality are the core of the proposed decision approach. In order to collect the needed sampling data, a few mystery guests who experience many customer‐service contacts are employed.FindingsA quantitative decision methodology which both allows one to evaluate the actual service quality level and provides, via comparison tests, a tool to highlight the weak and strong points of the service delivery process.Originality/valueThe proposed quality map is an original graphical tool, which enables one to pin‐point strengths and failings in service quality, prioritize corrective actions and recognize improvements, if any. The operative value of the whole methodology is tested through a real application to the hotel service industry.
Employability, skills and talent management in Zhejiang Province
Authors: Zhu Xiaoxian , Iles Paul , Shutt John 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on a three‐year PMI2 project for the British Council in 2008, one of seven to develop and strengthen partnerships with Chinese institutions in employability and entrepreneurship. Involving a partnership between Leeds Metropolitan University England and the Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, China, the aim has been to analyse the Hangzhou and Zhejiang economies and examine current Chinese company requirements for skills and talent and their implications for teaching and learning and graduate supply. This was intended to strengthen the existing partnerships at a civic level between Leeds and Hangzhou and the successful MA in Trade and Finance run by the two universities.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on preliminary interview studies in China of Hangzhou companies in different industrial sectors to analyse the skill and talent needs of such companies, their demands for graduate talent in particular and their views about the adequacy of the supply of that talent from local and national universities.FindingsThe paper clarifies the relationship between talent demand and supply in China, especially with regard to graduate talent, and presents an original analysis of the skill needs of the Hangzhou economy.Originality/valueThe paper suggests ways in which universities in Zhejiang and China generally could strengthen their engagement with businesses over talent demand and supply, and how they could develop courses and programmes that more effectively bridge the gap between universities and businesses.