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This study integrates the providers' perspective as well as the patient's perspective in developing and validating a scale to measure hospital service quality in multispecialty hospitals.

An exploratory sequential mixed-method approach was used in this study. The strategies used included a thematic literature review, semi-structured interviews, modified Delphi and confirmatory factor analysis.

The reliability coefficient of 41 item scale was 0.963 with each attribute, that is, pivotal, core and peripheral, having a Cronbach's alpha of 0.907, 0.91 and 0.891, with scale content validity (S-CVI Ave) of 0.9151. The composite reliability scores of all constructs were greater than 0.7, with an Average Variance Explained (AVE) of all items greater than 0.5.

The instrument can be used to measure the difference between what service providers believe customers expect and customers’ actual needs and expectations. The scale can be used to measure the difference between what is delivered (as perceived by the provider) and what customers perceive they have received (because they are unable to accurately evaluate service quality). The dyadic approach of administering this questionnaire in measuring hospital service quality will lead to the identification of a knowledge gap and a perception gap in delivering hospital service quality.

Health care service is a widely researched area. Several established models and instruments measuring health care service quality (HCSQ) are available in the published academic literature. The objective of this article is to summarize this vast pool of available knowledge under the themes of HCSQ, its determinants and measurement strategies.

Sixty-three available published studies in peer reviewed journal combed in EBSCO and Google Scholar database have been examined and presented in exemplary literature review.

The findings have been segregated under the themes of HCSQ, its dimensions and determinants. It can be deduced from the findings that in spite of health care being a professional service, the user defined service quality takes center stage.

Rather than the seeker of care, the authors call for further research by taking a dyadic view of professional exchanges and including providers' perspectives of care in service quality evaluations as well.

Training in interpersonal communication helps in enhancing customer service experience. The Functional Fluency model of transactional analysis provides training inputs by which employees can monitor their response with the customers and thereby improve this customer experience. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The integration of the Functional Fluency model with “Gap 3” of the SERVAQUAL model.

The “Gap 3” in the SERVAQUAL model is about service delivery affected due to poor interpersonal communication by employees. Here the Functional Fluency model helps in identifying the dominant response style and the variables emergent for a group of frontline staff. This can help in designing training programs that will assist in employees enhancing their interpersonal communication from positive functioning and being cautious or exercise restraint on the negative functioning of Functional Fluency model.

The research limitation is that since the model provides a pen-picture on the communication response style of a large group of employees on the 54 descriptors of the Functional Fluency model, a broad training program may be designed for the group. Second, a large group is sought for implication to take shape.

General communication response style may be identified for different groups and based on this a training module or program based on Functional Fluency may be designed specific to each group.

The importance of the Functional Fluency model in providing an evaluation and resolve on the nature of communication responses, during customer-employee interactions, to enhance service delivery in bridging the Gap 3 of the SERVAQUAL model.

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between customer’s assessment of service quality dimensions (SERVQUAL model) and the descriptors of training. A model of service quality is SERVQUAL, which measures the discrepancy between customer’s perceptions and expectation on the customer service. The dimensions of service quality here are evaluated from the customer’s point of view. Functional fluency as a model of transactional analysis identifies descriptors of interpersonal communication that helps employees improve their responses. Hence, to provide a clear training need assessment, the dimensions of service quality and descriptors of functional fluency must be mapped accordingly.

The semantic mapping of the dimensions of the service quality with descriptors of the functional fluency model.

Of the five dimensions of the SERVAQUAL model, four are behavioral and are mapped with four descriptors belonging to four different modes of the functional fluency model. The four modes are positive manner in which people can respond to improve service quality.

The implication is the training needs that emerge by bridging the gap between SERVQUAL dimensions and functional fluency model for self-development.

This will provide an organization the training needs analysis for their employees for improving their interpersonal communication on service quality dimensions.

Bridging of the gap between customer’s assessment of service quality dimensions (SERVQUAL model) and the descriptors of training (functional fluency model).

This paper aims to assess the equilibrium house price in the city of Suva (Fiji) and to analyse the house price bubble in the Fiji housing market.

This paper adopts a time series approach to determine the presence of house price bubbles in Fiji over the period from 1988 to 2018.

The findings suggest that real income, land cost, building material price, inflation rate, volatility, household size and wealth have a positive impact on house prices, whereas user cost of capital and political disturbances have a negative impact. The findings further indicate that the Fijis’ housing market does not constitute any house price bubble.

This paper draws policy implications for a small developing state (Fiji) and other similar economies.

The price bubble in the Fiji housing market is analysed for the first time. This paper develops a comprehensive empirical approach to assess the equilibrium-housing price in Fiji.

The purpose of this study is to adopt stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory to reveal the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on buying intentions of young consumers in the presence of hedonic brand attitude (HBA) and utilitarian brand attitude (UBA) as mediators, among smartphone customers in the context of brand fan pages in Facebook.

The paper uses a single cross-sectional design to survey a sample of 326 young online customers present in leading smartphone brand fan pages on Facebook in India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and replies were recorded on a Likert scale (five-point). The data was subjected to structural equation modelling for model and hypotheses testing.

eWOM has a significantly positive influence on the buying intentions of the young. Both HBA and UBA partially mediate the influence of eWOM on buying intentions.

The study examines only the personal-oriented functions of attitude and does not investigate the role of social dimensions of attitudes. Its scope is confined to smartphones in the consumer electronics segment and only Facebook among social networking sites.

A theoretical contribution to eWOM literature is made by studying it under the lens of S-O-R theory and functional theory of attitudes. Measurement of two different dimensions of attitude, i.e. hedonic and utilitarian, may facilitate managers to comprehend the source of variance in consumers’ decision-making behaviour in the online context.

The only study to explore brand attitude as a mediator in its multi-dimensional form, in the context of social eWOM.

The purpose of this paper is to optimise the job shop scheduling problem using simulation and genetic algorithm.

The paper presents a simulation‐based genetic algorithm approach for the job shop scheduling problem. In total, three cases have been considered to access the performance of the job shop, with an objective to minimise mean tardiness and makespan. A restart scheme is embedded into regular genetic algorithm in order to avoid premature convergence.

Simulation‐based genetic algorithm can be used for job shop scheduling problems. Moreover, a restart scheme embedded into a regular genetic algorithm results in improvement in the fitness value. Single process plans selected on the basis of minimum production time criterion results in improved shop performance, as compared to single process plans selected randomly. Moreover, availability of multiple process plans during scheduling improves system performance measures.

The paper presents a simulation‐based genetic algorithm approach for job shop scheduling problem, with and without restart scheme. In this paper the effect of multiple process plans over single process plans, as well as criterion for selection of single process plans, are studied. The findings should be taken into account while designing scheduling systems for job shop environments.

This study aims to analyze the dynamic performance of aerostatic thrust bearing for different geometries of recess. Different geometries of recess of equal recess area, i.e. circular, elliptical, rectangular and annular, have been considered in analysis. The work also analyzes the influence of tilt angle on the performance of thrust bearing. To compute the unknown pressure field, the Reynolds equation governing the flow of compressible lubricant (air) has been solved using finite element formulation. Further, separate finite element formulations have been carried out to compute fluid film stiffness and damping coefficients directly. This method provides quick computation of stiffness and damping coefficients of aerostatic thrust bearing than the usual approach.

As the Reynolds equation governing the flow of compressible lubricant is nonlinear partial differential equation, the computation of the stiffness and damping coefficient follows an iterative procedure. It requires a lot of computational energy. Therefore, in the present work, a novel technique based on finite element formulation is suggested to compute air film stiffness and damping coefficient in aerostatic thrust bearing.

A novel technique based on finite element formulation is illustrated to simulate the performance of tilted pad aerostatic thrust bearing. On the basis of simulated results, following key conclusions may be drawn. The static and dynamic performance of a circular aerostatic tilted thrust pad bearing is significantly affected with a change in the value of tilt parameter and the shape of the recess.

Implications are as follows: direct computation of air film damping coefficient is performed without perturbation method in finite element method (FEM); influence of tilt on aerostatic thrust bearing is studied; influence of recess shape on aerostatic thrust bearing is observed; and finite element formulation of aerostatic thrust bearing is performed.

The present work will be quite useful for bearing designer and academicians.

The purpose of this paper is to compute reliability, availability, and mean time before failure of the process of a plastic‐pipe manufacturing plant consisting of a (K, N) system for various choices of failure and repair rates of sub‐systems. This plant consists of eight sub‐systems.

In this paper the Chapman‐Kolmogorov differential equations are formed using mnemonic rule from the transition diagram of the plastic‐pipe manufacturing plant. The governing differential equations are solved using matrix method in order to find the reliability of the system with the help of MATLAB software. The same system of differential equations is solved numerically using Runge‐Kutta fourth order method to validate the results obtain by MATLAB.

The findings in the paper are an analysis of reliability, availability and mean time before failure of plastic‐pipe manufacturing plant has been carried out.

This paper proposes matrix calculus method using MATLAB software to find out the reliability of the plastic‐pipe manufacturing plant. This approach can be implemented to find reliability of other manufacturing plants as well.

The findings suggest that the management of the plastic‐pipe manufacturing plant 's sensitive sub‐system is important to improve its performance.