Search results

Much of the earlier empirical work in service management has suggested that the dimensions of service quality may be stable in terms of their relative importance. In particular, the works of Zeithaml et al. postulate that service reliability matters most to customers and that empathy and the tangible aspects of services matter the least. Shows arguments, both conceptually and empirically, so that this observation is not based on strategic thinking nor on a particularly sound set of experiments. The relative priorities of service organizations must be established through the strategy formulation process and are likely to vary, quite logically, according to market choices and operations process characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the potential of importance‐performance (IP) analysis as a decision‐making tool for service management, employing IP analysis to assess the performance of Greek insurance in delivering quality services.

Data were collected in a two‐stage survey. In both stages, respondents were asked to provide importance and performance scores, in identical seven‐point Likert scales, for the 25 service attributes identified for Greek insurance. In order to qualify for the sample, individuals had to be over the age of 25 and have at least one insurance policy and one service encounter with their insurers within the previous three months. The two methodological streams of IP analysis, “gap analysis” and IP maps, were employed to analyse the data.

The value of importance‐performance analysis as a tool for managerial decision making in services was reaffirmed. Contrary to previous findings on insurers' reluctance to respond to their customers' quality requests, Greek insurance was found to have adequate reflexes in this respect. In stage one, the dimensions Responsiveness and Assurance were positioned in the “keep up the good work”, Reliability in the “concentrate”, Empathy in the “low priority” and Tangibles in the “possible overkill” quadrants of the importance‐performance map. In stage two, the industry was found to have taken actions towards keeping‐up with its customers' requirements.

The main limitations of this study are that it was based on a single service industry and that convenience sampling was used. However, its methodology and results are valid for various industries in the service sector and provide a solid basis for future research.

Service managers can exploit the approach taken by this study to improve service management. Greek insurers have to keep considering the needs and wants of their customers regarding service delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an overview of the service quality and delivery domain, focussing on the inclusion of customer co-production and customer integration. Specifically, this paper concentrates on service quality (including quality measurement), the service environment, controls and their consequences.

A comprehensive review of the literature is conducted, analysed and presented.

The review shows that service delivery is both complex and challenging, particularly when considering the unique characteristics of services and the high level of customer involvement in their creation. The facilitation, transformation and usage framework identifies how failures can occur at each stage of service delivery, beginning with the characteristics of the service environment, while control theory offers insights into the formal and informal controls that may be applied in the facilitation and transformation stages, which may reduce the likelihood or extent of such failures.

Despite the fact that it is widely accepted that service quality is an antecedent to customer satisfaction, it is surprising that this customer co-creation aspect has been largely neglected in the extant literature. As such, the role that customer co-production plays in service quality performance has been examined in this paper. It is hoped that this examination will enhance both theoretical and practical understanding of service quality. It would be useful to find modern tools that can help in improving service quality performance.

This chapter serves to synthesize existing literature centered on inservice teacher video-facilitated reflection on literacy pedagogy.

The inservice teacher literature review is focused on: (1) video analysis frameworks and scaffolds used to facilitate inservice teachers’ video reflection; (2) reflection and video discussions; and (3) the use of video for inservice teacher change and development.

From this review we learn that there is a dearth of video reflection research with inservice teachers on literacy pedagogy. Within the field of literacy, we know far less about how, when, and why to use video with inservice teachers than preservice teachers.

The review of literature does not incorporate inservice teacher video reflection in disciplines such as science and mathematics. Expanding this review to all disciplines would present a more comprehensive picture of video reflection with inservice teachers.

The chapter highlights the potential value of using video in inservice professional development and points to the specific needs for studies to identify the most effective uses of video specific to inservice professionals.

This chapter provides significant research-based information for designing and implementing future studies and professional development focused on video reflection with inservice teachers.

This chapter builds on previous research that conceptualized organizational politics as an organizational stressor. After reviewing the studies that integrated the occupational stress literature with the organizational politics literature, it discusses the negative implications of the use of intimidation and pressure by supervisors, implications that have generally been overlooked. Specifically, the chapter presents a conceptual model positing that the use of intimidation and pressure by supervisors creates stress in their subordinates. This stress, in turn, affects subordinates’ well-being, evident in higher levels of job dissatisfaction, job burnout, and turnover intentions. The stress also reduces the effectiveness of the organization, reflected in a high absenteeism rate, poorer task performance, and a decline in organizational citizenship behavior. The model also maintains that individual differences in emotional intelligence and political skill mitigate the stress experienced by subordinates, resulting from the use of intimidation and pressure by their supervisors. In acknowledging the destructive implications of such behavior in terms of employees’ well-being and the productivity of the organization, the chapter raises doubts about the wisdom of using it, and advises supervisors to rethink its use as a motivational tool. Implications of this chapter, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

This critical analysis investigates 23 studies on the use of video in pre-service literacy teacher preparation to gain a better understanding of the potential of video-based pedagogy for supporting pre-service teachers’ development of the complex set of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for teaching literacy in today’s classrooms.

This study extends what has been learned from prior reviews to investigate research focused on the use of video in pre-service literacy teacher preparation with particular attention paid to the extent to which pre-service teachers’ work with video helps them examine literacy teaching and learning in relation to race, language, culture, and power.

Working with video has strong potential for engaging pre-service teachers in reflecting on their own teaching, deepening their understanding of the challenges of engaging in literacy practices, fostering expertise in systematically describing, reflecting on, and analyzing their teaching, providing multiple perspectives on instruction, analyzing and assessing student growth, and discussing developmentally appropriate instruction. Results were mixed regarding changing teachers’ knowledge and beliefs. Overall, the tasks pre-service teachers completed did not explicitly guide them to focus on the relationship between characteristics of the diverse learners featured in the videos and issues of teaching and learning.

Literacy teacher educators could do more to take advantage of the affordances of using video to work more explicitly toward goals of helping pre-service teachers develop a critical consciousness, an inquiring stance, and a sense of agency, along with examining teaching practices that represent culturally responsive teaching. Pre-service teachers need explicit guidance in what to observe for and more focused discussion regarding their developing knowledge and beliefs about student diversity.

Much of the research associated with organizational politics has focused on negative outcomes such as stress, burnout, and turnover intention. Only a limited amount of research has focused on identifying the psychological mechanisms that explain the influence of negative organizational politics on individual and organizational outcomes. In this chapter, we propose a more positive conceptualization of organizational politics and explore potential associations between both positive and negative politics and employee engagement. More specifically, we propose a model showing how the psychological conditions of psychological safety, availability, and meaningfulness explain the relationship between perceptions of positive and negative politics and employee engagement. We conclude by suggesting practical interventions to assist organizations develop a more positive organizational political climate.

It is widely established that many hiring managers view social networking websites (SNWs) such as LinkedIn and/or Facebook in the employment selection process, leading to the acceptance or rejection of job applicants. Due to the rapid evolution of social media, scientific study of SNWs has been substantially outpaced by organizational practice. This chapter focuses on a wide range of issues related to SNW screening relevant to research and practice.

The chapter: (1) reviews the current state of SNW screening practices, (2) describes a wide range of HR issues that should be considered such as privacy, discrimination, negligent hiring, validity, reliability, generalizability, impression management, applicant reactions, and utility, (3) draws connections to related issues already addressed by established employment selection methods to inform SNW screening, (4) discusses pros and cons of potential SNW screening approaches, and (5) provides a framework of best practices that should be incorporated into social network screening policies.

As an emerging employment selection approach, SNW screening demonstrates potential as a rich source of applicant information, but includes numerous legal and ethical issues. Further, these potential benefits and risks vary widely depending on the approaches used.

Provides HR practitioners with a wide range of information necessary to develop an effective social network screening policy, while making the case for academics to pursue research in this nascent area.

Over the past decade, the rapid evolution of social media has impacted the field of human resource management in numerous ways. In response, scholars and practitioners have sought to begin an investigation of the myriad of ways that social media impacts organizations. To date, research evidence on a range of HR-related topics are just beginning to emerge, but are scattered across a range of diverse literatures. The principal aim of this chapter is to review the current literature on the study of social media in HRM and to integrate these disparate emerging literatures. During our review, we discuss the existent research, describe the theoretical foundations of such work, and summarize key research findings and themes into a coherent social media framework relevant to HRM. Finally, we offer recommendations for future work that can enhance knowledge of social media’s impact in organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

Information is provided about each source, and the paper discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.