Pratap K.J. Mohapatra

Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty in Indian Commercial Banks

This article examines whether service quality of Indian commercial banks increases customer satisfaction that fosters customer loyalty. Data were collected from 350 valued customers of scheduled commercial bank branches in Orissa (India). A questionnaire elicited information on socio–demographic variables along with human, technical, and tangible aspects of service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Results suggest that better human, technical and tangible aspects of service quality of the bank branches increase customer satisfaction. Human aspects of service quality were found to influence customer satisfaction more than the technical and tangible aspects. Customer satisfaction furthers customer loyalty. Increase in service quality of the banks can satisfy and retain customers. In the Indian banking sector, human aspects are more important than technical and tangible aspects of service quality that influence customer satisfaction and promote and enhance customer loyalty.

A Comparative Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and Frontier Translog Production Function for Estimating Returns to Scale and Efficiencies

This paper critically analyses, in the context of classical and neoclassical perspectives, the concepts of ‘returns to scale’ and ‘economies of scale’ by relating the former to the concept of ‘production unit’ and the latter to the concept of ‘firm’, and concludes that returns to scale constitutes only one component of economies of scale. The estimation models of frontier translog production function and DEA are applied to data on the Indian steel industry for a period of eight years in order to compare inferences about the production correspondence of the steel industry. Our results indicate that DEA is advantageous over the translog method in providing information relating to returns to scale possibilities of each of the individual production units. With regards to the efficiency evaluation, both the models are found to give statistically significant ‘technical’ and ‘technical and scale’ efficiency ratings.

A stochastic model of e-customer behavior

Abstract Web usage mining techniques are increasingly used today to understand e-customers’ within-site behavior. We propose a data mining model that considers e-customers’ activities as a discrete-time semi-Markov process and explains their behavior. An algorithm is proposed to compute transition probability matrix and holding time mass functions from the site navigation data. Finally, the model is used to explain customer behavior in an example site. A software agent, implemented in the site, collects and stores navigation data in the required form and thus helps to avoid data preprocessing. The model results helped to improve the site design and judge its performance.

Soft and Hard Aspects of Quality Management Practices Influencing Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Manufacturing-oriented Services

This review rationalizes that quality management practices have been adopted as a marketing strategy in the post-liberalized economy. Evaluating the literature and theories of quality management, differences are found in the implementation of quality management practices in manufacturing and service sectors. A critical assessment of literature and a comparison of various quality management models divulge the variables that are proposed to influence service quality and customer satisfaction in manufacturing-oriented services. These variables are categorized as ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ aspects of quality management. The soft aspects include transformational leadership, workplace spirituality, service climate, human resource management practices, employees’ affective commitment and job satisfaction. The hard aspects incorporate the management information system and physical evidence. It is rationalized that the adoption of soft and hard aspects of quality management is essential to achieve service quality and customer satisfaction.

Environmental impact analysis of a coalfield

Coal is the primary source of energy in India, but it is observed that environmental pollution is severe in coalfield areas in the country. A comprehensive environmental impact analysis (EIA) is necessary in order to understand the impacts and their inter-relationships and to test alternative policies for pollution control. This paper presents a case study of EIA of a coalfield. An eclectic approach consisting of expert opinion, content analysis, SIAM, opinion surveys and Delphi surveys are used to identify the impacts. Interpretive structural modelling method is used to structure the inter-relationships among the impacts. System dynamics method is used to analyse the inter-relationships and to test the viability of alternative pollution control methods.

Developing a model to measure the effectiveness of research units

Research and development (RD patents; technologies successfully transferred or the external cash flow secured by a R&D organization. These are at times coupled with qualitative indicators such as the impact factor of the journals in which the papers are published and science citation index. However, all these measures often fail to adequately evaluate the effectiveness of research units (RUs) that carry out technological innovation projects. The present study examines this important conceptual question. The study attempts to develop a subjective measure of effectiveness of RU functioning within the laboratories under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, in terms of peer review at four levels – self assessment, head of the RU, external scientific, and external administrative evaluators, using data from 236 RUs working in different laboratories functioning under CSIR. The measurement model component of structural equation modeling methodology using the LISREL 7.16 program has been adopted as the primary methodology for the study. In the measurement model presented, the observed indicators of the different effectiveness measure concepts (R&D effectiveness, user‐oriented effectiveness, administrative effectiveness and recognition) are assumed to possess causal relations with one another. Since subjective measures have not only weak measurement properties, but are also influenced by systematic and random measurement errors, the models reliability and construct validity – both in terms of convergent validity and discriminate validity – have been ascertained.

Optimization of Hot Rolled Coil Widths Using a Genetic Algorithm

Abstract This paper focuses on the assortment problem in the steel industry; with the help of the genetic algorithm, it attempts to determine the optimum width of the parent stock given a set of forecasted customer widths so that the trim loss is minimized. For each given set of forecasted customer widths, an attempt is made to find a single width of the mother coil to be manufactured and kept in stock. In the genetic algorithm, six different selection schemes are considered. A number of test problems are taken up for different selection schemes. Evaluated against the maximum fitness value, the optimal mother coil width, and the generation number at which they are achieved, the elitism selection scheme shows consistently good results in all the test problems compared with the other selection mechanisms.

Contractor selection in government procurement auctions: a case study

This paper aims to present a combined fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Simple Multi-Attribute Ranking Technique (SMART) approach to deal with the contractor selection problem in government procurement auctions. The proposed approach utilises a set of ten attributes for the evaluation of a contractor. In this approach, the attributes of both the past performance and the present status of the contractor is considered wherein the selection attributes are qualitative and/or quantitative type having inhibiting and/or enabling in nature. A case study of the Rural Development Department of the government of Orissa has been taken up to demonstrate the contractor selection process. [Submitted 9 February 2008; Revised 27 June 2008; Revised 8 August 2008; Accepted 12 August 2008]

Locating cyclone shelters: a case

Purpose – This paper aims to present the cyclone shelter location problem as a problem of grouping a set of villages into a minimum number of clusters and finding the location and capacity of the shelters.Design/methodology/approach – Proposes an algorithm to solve the location problem that uses a distance matrix of the villages, applies Elzinga‐Hearn method iteratively to group them into circular clusters, and determines the shelter size. It is implemented in a software package, which reads the village records from a database, executes the steps of the algorithm, and writes the results into a file.Findings – The villages are grouped into 13 clusters, eight requiring cyclone shelters to be built and five requiring no shelter, taking into consideration the available space in double‐storeyed buildings in the villages. The capacity and location of the each shelter are also obtained.Research limitations/implications – The approach can be modified to address several practical constraints. For example, for the ...

Modeling the 24‐h software development process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model of the 24‐h software development process to help software project managers assess the profitability of a 24‐h development configuration and to select the optimal partnering sites. The model also helps the customer‐support divisions of software firms to decide which customer requests need to be performed using the 24‐h development mode.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a graphical representation of the 24‐h software development process. Highlighting the importance of interaction times between two sites and the role of product‐, process‐, and site‐related factors that influence its value, the paper adopts the method of pair‐wise comparison of factors as done in the case of analytical hierarchy process and proposes a multiplicative model for its estimation. The software development time and cost are thereafter estimated by using site‐specific values of work hours, compensation package, and productivity. The approach is used to determin...