Dinaidys Gómez-Selemeneva

Derived importance-performance analysis and diagonal model in a Spanish municipality

This article presents and discusses empirical research into citizen satisfaction, conducted to measure the performance and management of local public policies. The object of the research is to evaluate the public safety policy of a Spanish city through a survey measuring citizen satisfaction with the local public services. Regression and ‘importance-performance analysis’ (IPA) were applied to the views expressed by a sample of citizens. One objective of the study reported is to use different derived importance values, from correlation and regression analysis, to compare the results of two ‘importance-performance analyses’. The concept of variant and invariant weights and the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction were also considered for the research. Results confirm that the ‘fire service’ is seen as a ‘dissatisfier’, a basic or flat attribute; they suggest that negative coefficient values could be associated with ‘dissatisfiers’ and that inherent discontinuity is only partly resolved in the partition importance-performance grid. The findings show that the results of the two IPAs differ using the traditional IPA grid but are similar with diagonal models of the partition IPA grid. Points for practitioners One of the main problems for political decision-makers in recent years has been the reconfiguration of the budget for the entity managed, such as a municipality, in the current situation of economic crisis. This article contributes to improving decision-making on the reallocation of money and resources in the face of restrictions and financial cuts.

Innovation in Tourist Management through Critical Success Factors: A Fuzzy Map

This article presents a model of the Critical Success Factors of a tourist destination located in the Caribbean area, where there are other destinations, some already well-established and others emerging. In this context, this research will be of value not only for understanding the attractions of the destination as a tourism offer from the customers’ perspective, but also for the design of the most effective strategies and policies to ensure the sustainability of the destination, the competitiveness of the companies providing tourist services, etc., and for encouraging management chains to invest and participate in the area, and particularly in the destination studied. The methodology employed is that of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps based on a content analysis as a tool of strategic diagnosis; this is the principal contribution of the study. This approach has enabled us to reach important conclusions on the central elements to be strengthened in formulating Innovation Strategies that would allow an integrated outcome for the destination, through those factors that should ensure its success.