Yu-Cheng Lee

Analysis of adopting an integrated decision making trial and evaluation laboratory on a technology acceptance model

The aim of study is to integrate decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) into the theoretical extension of technology acceptance model (TAM2) to evaluate users behavioral intention to use while introducing a new etching plasma technology. The study used a case of the Taiwan plasma etching manufacturing industry as the example, adopted DEMATEL to calculate the causal relationship and interaction level between the TAM2 variables, and at the same time, use DEMATEL to find the core variables of TAM2, provide the managers the important key for management or improvement while promoting a new technology to resolve the complicated problems in practical experience. The study found that adopting DEMATEL in the TAM2 method, to find perceived ease of use, subjective norm and experience, is the key impact factors for the case study to decide the plasma etching technology acceptance model.

Using BPNN and DEMATEL to modify importance-performance analysis model - A study of the computer industry

The importance-performance analysis (IPA) model has been widely used as the primary tool for customer satisfaction management. IPA is a 2-D matrix analysis based on the importance and performance of the organization from the customer perception of quality. The firms customer satisfaction management strategy is formulated according to the IPA analysis results. However, both conventional and modified IPA models have important hidden assumptions: (1) assumptions regarding the importance of quality characteristics and performance; (2) the assumption that performance and satisfaction have a linear relationship; (3) that quality characteristics are mutually independent variables, with no causal relationship. Under these assumptions, if the quality characteristics cannot meet the above-mentioned assumptions, the conventional and modified IPA models will not accurately analyze the importance and priority ranking for improvement, leading to wrongful decision making. This study puts forth a new decision making and analysis methodology that will, on one hand, exploit the back-propagation neural network (BPNN) to establish quality characteristics and the hidden important integral satisfaction assumptions. The decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is used to calculate the causal relationship and extent of mutual influence among the qualities to adjust the importance of the quality characteristics and identify the core Order-Winners and Qualifiers problems. The proposed method modifies the quality importance and improves the IPA model ranking and also resolves difficult practical problems with fewer resources. This study illustrates using Taiwan industrial computer, working in conjunction with IPA models established with BPNN and DEMATEL to observe its application and effect.

Service quality gaps analysis based on Fuzzy linguistic SERVQUAL with a case study in hospital out‐patient services

Purpose – This study seeks to propose a conceptual approach to assess the perceived service quality properly using Fuzzy logic. First, it aims to verify whether it is a better solution than the Likert scale. Second, it seeks to evaluate patients feedback towards hospital service quality using Fuzzy linguistic analysis.Design/methodology/approach – The SERVQUAL questionnaire was developed according to the characteristics of each hospitals out‐patient service. Three regional hospitals in Hsin‐Chu, Taiwan were evaluated. After being completed and collected, first, the effectiveness of the Fuzzy linguistic scale and the Likert scale was compared. Second, gap values of each element were evaluated to find the core service quality attributes for continuous improvement. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to segment markets using certain service quality attributes and different demographic variables.Findings – The result indicated that the Fuzzy linguistic scale is higher than the Likert scale i...

A new Kano's evaluation sheet

Purpose – Kanos 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 Kanos 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 Kanos evaluation sheet to improve the accuracy of the classification of the quality attributes.Design/methodology/approach – This study develops a new Kanos 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.Findings – Quality attribute strength is probed and compared with the traditional Kanos evaluation sheet. T...

An Integration of Kano’s Model and Exit‐Voice Theory: A Case Study

The purpose of this study was to examine overall customer satisfaction associated with medical service quality in Taiwan by integrated Kano’s model and customer satisfaction index model. Another purpose was to confirmed nonlinear and asymmetric relationship of Customer Satisfaction and Quality Performance by the research outcome. By analyzing 1,100 patients or their family members, this study used the structural equation model (SEM) with AMOS software for data analysis. The results show that must‐be attributes, one‐dimensional attributes and attractive attributes had a direct effect on overall customer satisfaction, Surprisingly, overall customer satisfaction had positively influenced customer loyalty customer satisfaction had negatively influenced customer complaints. The study also found that customer complaints have direct effect on customer loyalty. Importantly, the study found out the must‐be attributes, the attractive attributes and one‐dimensional attributes increased, the level of overall customer satisfaction also increased. The customer satisfaction positively influences customer loyalty in medical service quality in Taiwan. The findings might reveal new insights for researchers dealing with quality of medical service and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively to achieving highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.

Modify IPA for quality improvement: Taguchi's signal‐to‐noise ratio approach

Purpose – Importance performance analysis (IPA) is a technique widely used to assist organisations in developing marketing strategies and improving products or service quality. Many scholars have revised IPA to augment its effectiveness. However, this involves some unknown problems that could lead organisations to make wrong decisions. This paper aims to look at this issue.Design/methodology/approach – As a solution, this paper introduces Taguchis signal‐to‐noise (S/N) ratio approach to treat ordered categorical data in analysing customer satisfaction and integrates it with gap analysis (GA) through S/N ratio to develop a modified IPA model. A Taiwan air‐conditioning manufacturer maintenance and repair service is illustrated to demonstrate the method.Findings – According to the test case, the modified IPA model obtained more reliable results than the traditional IPA method, considering the central tendency and variance from different customer perceptions. The proposed method can determine exact marketing...

Integrating quality function development and interpretive structure model to establish a product family

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish a product family that can satisfy various market needs and share design elements.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies quality function development to understand the correlation between customer needs and product design. The priority sequence and correlation of these design elements will be determined using the interpretive structure model.Findings – This approach will reduce repeated design effort and reduce unnecessary cost and time. The designer can simultaneously and efficiently meet various market and customer needs.Originality/value – The company can open up more markets for greater profit and advantages. The paper uses “the market need and BIKE product redesign” as the example for the proposed approach.