Ravi S. Behara

Analysis of quality management practices in services

Theory building efforts in quality management have begun in earnest. However, while services continue to dominate the developed economies of the world, these studies have mostly focused on manufacturing firms. Research that addresses this limitation by specifically addressing quality management in service organizations is presented in this paper. Through a survey of 170 US service firms, this study empirically develops and validates 11 constructs for quality management in services. A comparison between this study and other empirical quality management studies highlights many distinct quality management constructs in services. It also shows that all empirical studies have some gaps in the coverage of their constructs, reiterating the need for continued quality management theory building research in services and manufacturing.

Modeling and Evaluating Service Quality Measurement Using Neural Networks

Effective measurement and analysis of service quality are an essential first step in its improvement. This paper discusses the development of neural network models for this purpose. A valid neural network model for service quality is initially developed. Customer data from a SERVQUAL survey at an auto‐dealership network in The Netherlands provide the basis for model development. Different definitions of service quality measurement are modelled using the neural network approach. The perception‐minus‐expectation model of service quality was found not to be as accurate as the perception‐only model in predicting service quality. While this is consistent with the literature, this study also shows that the more intuitively appealing but mathematically less convenient expectation‐minus‐perception model out‐performs all the other service quality measurement models. The study also provides an analytical basis for the importance of expectation in the measurement of service quality. However, the study demonstrates the need for further study before neural network models may be effectively used for sensitivity analyses involving specific dimensions of service quality.

Business risk perspectives on information systems outsourcing

Abstract Information systems (IS) outsourcing research has continued to evolve over the past decade to reflect changes in its practice and a deeper understanding of its business impact. Typically, the drivers of outsourcing decisions are both internal and external to the outsourcing organization and have been the basis for such studies. Since IS essentially represents an organizations implementation of its business processes, this paper approaches IS outsourcing by explicitly integrating issues related to business process outsourcing. The resulting business risk management framework provides a basis for effective IS outsourcing. The framework is further discussed within the context of outsourcing in e-business. By adopting a risk management perspective, this paper provides a strategic direction to further the field of IS outsourcing research.

Shift Changes among Emergency Physicians: Best of Times, Worst of Times

The need for 24-hour emergency care requires emergency department (ED) staff to work in shifts. Shift changes have long been viewed as risky times, for failures in the transfer of information, authority, or responsibility care can result in adverse events. We observed shift transitions in the ED as part of a study on safety in emergency care. We found that, in addition to being an expected point of failure, transitions were also, unexpectedly, associated with recovery from failure. We report two illustrative case studies, and examine implications for strategies aimed at reducing the number of and volume of transitions.

Mapping product usability

It is not sufficient for firms to deliver products that have technical excellence. Products should be easy to use and fit in with the work practices, activities and context of the consumer. Product usability is now recognized as a critical dimension of product quality. Product usability is defined by product attributes that address the physical, cognitive and emotional needs of intended users. Based on a database of documented real‐world customer experiences with manufactured products in use, this research maps the categories of product usability using an affinity diagram. The resulting affinity diagram and the insights it provides can help managers design products that better meet the needs of their customers. Limitations of the study and the implications of its findings are also discussed.

Optimal information security investment in a Healthcare Information Exchange: An economic analysis

Abstract The complexity of the problem, the increasing security breaches, and the regulatory and financial consequences of breached patient data highlight the fact that security of electronic patient information in Healthcare Information Exchanges (HIEs) is an organizational imperative and a research priority. This study applies classical economic decision analysis techniques and models the HIE based on its network characteristics to offer key insights into the issue of determining the optimal level of information security investment. We find that for an organization in a HIE, only security events with the potential loss reaching some critical value are worth protecting, and organizations would only spend a fraction of the intrinsic security risk on protection measures. Even when business benefit from security investment exists, organizations in a HIE tend to invest based on risk reduction alone. The implications of such decisions made at the node level and the resulting built-in moral hazard at the HIE level is discussed.

A Comparison of Manual and Electronic Status Boards in the Emergency Department: What's Gained and What's Lost?

Emergency departments (EDs) are complex, high tempo, high risk work environments that require dynamic sharing of information across a group of caregivers. EDs commonly use status boards as tools to facilitate this sharing. Manual status boards have been replaced in some institutions by electronic ones, for a variety of reasons. We contrast the use of manual and electronic status boards in 4 different EDs to assess the gains and losses for workers.

Transitions in Care: Signovers in the Emergency Department:

The need for 24-hour emergency care requires emergency department (ED) staff to work in shifts. We observed shift transitions in 5 EDs as part of a study on safety in emergency care. We found the observable characteristics of shift transitions to be highly variable across institutions and dynamically variable within shift change episodes. However, across all sites, turnovers were interactional rather than transactional, and were highly tailored to the immediate context. The high degree of situatedness in the turnovers suggest they are not likely to be adapted to a standardized tool or protocol.

Leadership in OM research: a social network analysis of European researchers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership role of authors, institutions, and countries based on research co-authorship networks in the field of operations management (OM) and ranks European authors, institutions, and countries using network centrality measures. It also identifies the primary research areas of each of the leading European authors and maps the areas that European research in general has focussed most on. Design/methodology/approach – Based on co-authorships in publications appearing in a representative set of three leading OM journals over the 15-year period of 1998-2012, network measures of total degree centrality and betweenness centrality are used to identify influential European agents serving as leaders and bridge builders in OM research. Keyword analysis is used to identify the dominant areas of OM research in Europe as well as the primary areas of research of the leading authors. Findings – With UK, Spain, The Netherlands, and Italy accounting for the dominant ...

Active Learning Projects in Service Operations Management

Todays students have grown up in the Internet era, where they actively participate in the generation and consumption of information. To create and promote student interest in the classroom, business school faculty therefore have to actively engage them as part of the learning process. This article presents ways in which to incorporate active learning as part of a service operations management (SOM) course at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. We identify specific action learning projects for both levels, based on student maturity and business experience. These projects align with specific topics that are typically presented in a service operations management course. We also present a framework that provides insights for aligning the types of action learning projects with the nature of the data used and the types of intended outcomes. Student feedback suggests that there is significant value in these projects for both the students and faculty.