Loukas Tsironis

The assessment of user-perceived web quality: Application of a satisfaction benchmarking approach

The assessment of website quality is considered as a problem of measuring user satisfaction, in order to analyse user perceptions and preferences. The presented pilot user satisfaction survey concerns the major cellular phone service providers in Greece. The analysis is based on a multicriteria preference disaggregation approach for satisfaction benchmarking analysis and consists of the following parts: (1) the user satisfaction analysis, which concerns the identification of customer preferences and includes the estimation of the relative importance and the demanding level of the different user satisfaction dimensions, and (2) the satisfaction benchmarking analysis, which is mainly focused on the performance evaluation of the competitive organisations against the satisfaction criteria, as well as the identification of the competitive advantages of each company. The results presented in this paper demonstrate how business organisations may locate their position against competition, pinpoint their weak points and determine which website characteristics will improve their global performance.

Towards an integrated framework for Lean Six Sigma application: Lessons from the airline industry

By following a qualitative methodological approach, this article aims to investigate the critical factors influencing the application of Lean Six Sigma (L6σ) in an airline company. Secondary data were collected through an analysis of companys written procedures and quality assurance policies. In addition, primary data were collected through a number of interviews with managers. Findings suggest that there are particular factors that influence the implementation of L6σ such as leadership and strategic orientation, quality-driven organisational culture, continuous training, teamwork, customer satisfaction, and technical systems. This study supports the view that the above factors are not only significant for L6σ application but, also, can be seen as useful investigation tools in their potential application. This article has four major contributions. Firstly, it expands our understanding regarding the implementation of L6σ in the service industry, by exploring the interrelationship of both positive and negative factors affecting its application. Secondly, it focuses on the responses of managers, who always play the most significant role in the adoption sophisticated management practices. Thirdly, it explores L6σ application in an airline service industry, which seems to be neglected by the current literature. Finally, it provides future research studies with an integrated framework that can be investigated in many different organisations coming from other sectors, attempting to find ways of institutionalising L6σ philosophy in any organisational setting.

Creativity development in engineering education: the case of mind mapping

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to exploit student preference and propose, discuss and experimentally validate a strategy that aims to reduce time necessary to introduce tutoring of mind mapping to engineering students.Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was designed and used to collect student preferences about mind mapping. Preferences were linked to alternative scenarios of mind mapping deployment. Survey responses from a 100 second‐year students from the Department of Production Engineering and Management were analyzed using conjoint analysis.Findings – Results indicate that an effective strategy to present mind mapping to engineering students is to explain in detail all the possible applications of mind mapping; present mind maps with different colours using both words and drawings and encourage students to use mind maps in team assignments.Originality/value – The findings of this paper provide a well documented framework in addressing mind mapping technique to engineering studen...

Quality and electronic commerce: a partnership for growth

This article explores the relationship between electronic commerce (EC) and the management of quality. The stand point it assumes for EC is that of a total entrepreneurial strategy spanning both intraand inter-organizational business and technology aspects. The article explores the relationship of EC and quality management (QM) from five distinct view points: quality for the end customer in view of the personalization of the relationship between the customer and the enterprise; the definition of service quality in electronic service delivery systems; the transformation of QM from a value chain to a supply chain issue due to supply chain integration introduced through EC; the management of quality information; and the management of quality in Internet and software

Antibiotic prescriptions in primary health care in a rural population in Crete, Greece

BackgroundAntibiotic over-prescribing has generally been considered to be common in Greece, however not much is known about current antibiotic use.FindingsThe aim of this study was to investigate antibiotic prescribing in a well-defined rural population of 159 adults and 99 children over a 12-month period in Crete, Greece. The daily-defined doses (DDD) for 1000 people/day (DID) were 22.1 and 24.2 for children and adults respectively. The overall DID was 23.4, markedly lower than that previously reported for Greece. The use of penicillins was 49.5% of DDD in children and 31.7% in adults. Quinolones represented 2.2% of the total antibiotics (0% in children). Prescriptions of antibiotics were more common during the 3-month period from January to March for both children and adults.ConclusionsThe findings of this study confirm the seasonal distribution of antibiotics used and the predominance of prescribing for respiratory tract infections. In the area of the study, antibiotic use seems to be lower than that previously reported for Greece, probably as a result of the recently established net of well-trained primary health physicians.

A framework for BPML assessment and improvement: A case study using IDEF0 and eEPC

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and improve two popular business process modelling languages (BPMLs) the Integration definition for function modelling (IDEF0) and event‐driven process chain (eEPC).Design/methodology/approach – The paper aims to select, compare and evaluate against a proposed criteria framework two popular BPMLs. In order to meet end‐user requirements, it suggests concrete improvements for either language. Evaluation findings and improvement attempts are documented over a case study within the context of a large European aerospace industry. The languages are applied through the use of appropriate software such as BPWin and Arena Simulation Software for IDEF0 and Architecture of Integrated Information Systems (ARIS) Toolset for eEPC.Findings – Improved languages seem to overcome several deficiencies and increase their modelling performance. Improvements in IDEF0 include: classification of component information and insertion of logical operators. In this approach the langu...

A QFD strategy for improving customer satisfaction: case study of telecom companies of Pakistan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that the quality function deployment (QFD) matrix that has been successfully used for developing products from customer needs can also be applied to improve the service quality of telecommunication companies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a case study of the two big telecom companies (Ufone and Mobilink) of Pakistan. Data have been collected by a cross‐sectional field study of users, frontline employees and management of telecom companies. The QFD matrix has been applied to identify customer needs, to do comparative analysis of the prepaid services of these companies and to recommend the suitable measure for incorporating these requirements into their services.Findings – It has been found that through emphasizing two technical descriptors (Antennas and Base Station Controller System), a company will not only be in a competitive position to meet the customers demand but will also gain an advantage over its competitor.Research limitations/im...

Using machine learning to support quality management

Purpose – To demonstrate the applicability of machine‐learning tools in quality management.Design/methodology/approach – Two popular machine‐learning approaches, decision tree induction and association rules mining, were applied on a set of 960 production case records. The accuracy of results was investigated using randomized experimentation and comprehensibility of rules was assessed by experts in the field.Findings – Both machine‐learning approaches exhibited very good accuracy of results (average error was about 9 percent); however, association rules mining outperformed decision tree induction in comprehensibility and correctness of learned rules.Research limitations/implications – The proposed methodology is limited with respect to case representation. Production cases are described via attribute‐value sets and the relation between attribute values cannot be determined by the selected machine‐learning methods.Practical implications – Results demonstrate that machine‐learning techniques may be effectiv...

e-Business critical success factors: toward the development of an integrated success model

Purpose e-Business (e-B) organization is an integrated synergy of internet and supply chain. It is an organizational environment which consists of associations among suppliers, customers, work force and information technology. An important issue for an e-B organization is the comprehension of the critical factors that affect its success, in order to realize its full advantages and how it results in efficiency improvements of the organizations. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that determine the successful implementation of e-B and second to develop an integrated e-B model based on the CSFs. Design/methodology/approach By following a quantitative approach, primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 174 Greek e-B firms. An initial exploratory factor analysis was conducted, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings Findings have shown that there was a direct association of the Resource Based View (RBV) on the supply chain view (SCV) of a firm, which in turn influenced the performance/results of an e-B organization. It is concluded that e-B performance results and value creation are linked to customers’ and partners’ orientation (SCV) and human resources and information technology (RBV). Originality/value The proposed framework contributes to the understanding of the successful implementation of e-B, by proposing a fifthfold framework. The proposed framework portrayed a very fundamental result, that the resourced based view and the SCV of the organization are the critical priorities and have a direct and positive affect on the performance and efficiency of the successful implementation of e-B.

Towards a systematic e-business excellence framework

E-business is about more than just technology. It’s about thinking what your customers need and adopting web-enable and other information and communication technologies to increase business performance and success. Web-based technologies can be used to build relationships with customers, automate ordering, allow secure payment, speed processes and significantly reduce costs. Whatever the nature of the business and its deliverables (i.e., goods, services, or even parts to a factory), a coordination of its activities using technology is needed in order to make the most of streamlined and tightly integrated business processes. Therefore, it is essential for the e-business organisations to run in a business excellence environment. This paper seeks to present and explain a proposed systematic framework that enables organisations to develop self-assessment processes towards e-business excellence.