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The purpose of this paper is to present a punctuality improvement method system and to show how it was developed for application in the railway industry.

The method is based on principles from quality management theory and developed through four cases: delayed departures from a freight‐terminal; delays caused by wheel damages at freight‐train cars; delays at a single track railway line; and delays created at a railway junction.

The result is a method called PIMS: Punctuality Improvement Method System. PIMS does especially focus on the coupling of results from quantitative analyses with experience‐based knowledge. It also focuses on the interaction between the improvement project and the base organizations.

The research and development work was performed by researchers from academia in cooperation with practitioners from the railway industry.

Punctuality is claimed to be one of the most important quality factors in railway operations and improvement of punctuality is therefore an objective in most railway companies. Punctuality depends on how all actors involved in railway operations perform, and cooperation and communication within and between railway organizations is therefore essential to achieve improvements.

In Norway, there was a lack of an established method describing how to organize and accomplish punctuality improvement work. Thus, the authors initiated a project to develop a coherent method to solve identified punctuality challenges. Through the cases, the method has proven its capability to generate feasible improvement measures and measurable punctuality improvements have been achieved.

Recent studies concerning future air transport systems propose an operational model based on contract‐based air transportation system concepts, which impose 4D (spatial and time) constraints, called target windows (TWs), at different parts of the flight plan that an aircraft has to respect. The paper's aim is to find the set of all possible approaches for controlling punctuality at destination without violating the constraints imposed by a given sequence of TWs.

By quantifying such factors as distance between neighbouring TWs, size and temporal location of TWs, as well as the duration for which each TW should be valid, the authors arrived at a methodology for calculating a feasible sequence of TWs specific and appropriate to each flight scenario. Using these they sought control interface designs that would provide better arrival times at flight path reference points while minimizing potential conflicts.

A “pinch‐and‐pull” interface capable of implementing a real‐time, arrival‐time delay‐minimization process, which aims to achieve punctuality at destination by dynamically imposing appropriate modifications on aircraft flight velocities as dictated by TW definitions, was created.

With novel improvements to current methods for controlling aircraft punctuality at destination as proposed in this paper, great strides in flight path manoeuvrability may result, provided the pace of data management and display can parallel such developments.

The unorthodox approach to optimizing punctuality involves novel development of TWs, so as to transitively reduce uncertainty throughout the 4D trajectory defining the journey, rather than just at terminals. As a means of dramatically enhancing information display, a highly efficient pinch‐and‐pull interface for visualising these TWs was also developed.

Presents results of a nine‐year research and development project. At the beginning a scheduling simulation software was built and assessed in real contexts. Then it has grown into a technology for shop‐floor planning and control in the jobbing industry, developing now into a philosophy for strategic jobbing production management, named here as “Total punctuality approach”. Based on this approach, a conceptual model was developed to orientate control system design in the jobbing industry. The model was conceived on a manufacturing strategy base being clearly driven by punctuality which was identified as being the main order winning criteria in such markets, when quality and price issues have already been resolved. Flexibility, speed and costs were addressed as well according to their relative importance to competitiveness. Concepts extracted from the various technologies available are mixed up forming a special blend with regard to the total punctuality goal. Almost all aspects of the model were implemented in a software that has been successfully used in small Brazilian jobbing firms. Using the software, it is possible to assess a large range of shop‐floor management practices in terms of their contribution to the competitiveness of the company.

The ten‐item Inventory of Polychronic Values (IPV), a psychometric measure of polychronicity (the extent to which people in a culture prefer to be engaged in two or more tasks or events simultaneously and believe their preference is the best way to do things), was developed using data from 11 samples (N = 2,190) collected from bank employees, undergraduate students, hospital personnel, dentists and their staffs, and state agency managers. Principal components, alpha, correlation, and confirmatory factor analyses supported the IPV in its internal consistency, test‐retest reliability, content adequacy, construct validity (both discriminant and convergent), and nomological validity.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a dynamic control method to improve bus schedule adherence under connected bus system.

The authors developed a dynamic programming model that optimally schedules the bus operating speed at road sections and multiple signal timing plans at intersections to improve bus schedule adherence. First, the bus route was partitioned into three types of sections: stop, road and intersection. Then, transit agencies can control buses in real time based on all collected information; i.e. control bus operating speed on road sections and adjust the signal timing plans through signal controllers to improve the schedule adherence in connected bus environment. Finally, bus punctuality at the downstream stop and the saturation degree deviations of intersections were selected as the evaluation criteria in optimizing signal control plans and bus speeds jointly.

An illustrative case study by using a bus rapid transit line in Jinan city was performed to verify the proposed model. It revealed that based on the proposed strategy, the objective value could be reduced by 73.7%, which indicated that the punctuality was highly improved but not to incur excessive congestion for other vehicular traffic.

In this paper, the authors applied speed guidance and the adjustment of the signal control plans for multiple cycles in advance to improve the scheduled stability; furthermore, the proposed control strategy can reduce the effect on private traffics to the utmost extend.

This article examines Swiss people's transport means preferences in journeys over 100km. The study is based on a conditional survey research technique. When the decision criteria/ preferences are viewed from an angle that is independent of (and thus generally valid for) any choice of means of transport, the most important quality factors turn out to be safety, travelling time, punctuality, flexibility and travelling comfort. The factors “relaxation” and “(productive) use of time” are of comparatively minor importance, which can be related to the fact that travelling is seen as an end in itself. When the issue is looked at from the angle of a comparison between different means of transport, it becomes clear that there are undisputed advantages of ▪ the train over the car, particularly concerning safety with regard to accidents, relaxation and rest, a productive use of time, a minimisation of stress, and punctuality; ▪ the train over the aircraft with regard to lower overall costs, the frequency of connections, and punctuality; ▪ and the aircraft over the train with regard to travelling time. Costs only become really relevant in connection with air travel. It is interesting to note that a majority of the quality criteria which are generally considered to be the most relevant remain without any influence on the decision to choose one or the other means of transport. Indeed, there are not even any connections, overall, between people's general predispositions and their specific decisions for or against any particular means of transport in a certain situation. Only travelling time plays a central role both in the general and in the situational view.

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships that exist among the attributions, the affect and behavioural intentions of consumers who suffer delays in services. As a new element, we propose to consider two different affective dimensions: anger (emotional reaction) and satisfaction with the service (cognitive and emotional evaluation). The methodology employed is based on structural equation modeling and the empirical application in the airline industry, which was carried out in Spain, demonstrates the existence of the sequence “attribution‐affect‐behavioural intention”, with anger being the mediator in the relationship between the attribution of control on behavioural intention (propensity to complain and repurchase intentions).

The federal budgeting process is wrought with conflict that makes it nearly impossible for the budget to be passed on time, or so it seems. One aspect overlooked is the effects of statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules. The cursory evidence indicates PAYGO may be beneficial under certain circumstances. The analysis relies on an Autoregressive-Moving-Average (ARMA) time series model with data from appropriations bills signed into law from fiscal years 1994 to 2014. The findings indicate mixed effects for PAYGO statutes with a shorter budgeting timeline under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, but a longer timeline under the Statutory PAYGO Act of 2010. Additional findings suggest substantive relationships between the length of the budgeting process and party polarization, presidential leadership, and the economy.

This paper examines the relationship between indigenous cultures and employee efficiency and how cronyism strengthens or weakens the relationship in the Ghanaian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in response to the employee efficiency.

This study employs a quantitative approach by a cross-sectional survey to collect data from 400 workers in ten SOEs in Ghana. The analysis is done by using descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression techniques.

The findings indicate that showing gratitude is the predominant indigenous culture in the SOEs of Ghana while irregularity (absenteeism) is not dominant. Moreover, the practice of cronyism is high. It reveals that the indigenous cultures, except for respect for the elderly, relate negatively to employee efficiency, and cronyism strengthens the relationship between indigenous cultures and employee efficiency.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that cronyism effectively strengthens the relationship between indigenous cultures and employee efficiency in a developing country. Strategies to discourage cronyism should be the key focus of public administrators, as well as mechanisms to limit the practice of adverse indigenous cultures.

Looks at customer dissatisfaction by focusing on the events which provide the source of the dissatisfaction and complaints. Uses data from research into public transport. Includes analysis of written complaints and information from interviews with customers. Concludes that quality shortcomings are in most cases recurrent. Suggests that the company featured in the study should focus on aspects related to the drivers, punctuality and use of information coming from customers in the form of complaints.