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1 – 10 of over 14000
Article
Publication date: 11 April 2023

Aneta Kucińska-Landwójtowicz, Izabela Dagmara Czabak-Górska, Marcin Lorenc, Pedro Domingues and Paulo Sampaio

The main purpose of this paper is twofold: to present a proposal for a model of educational quality management system within a process approach context for technical universities…

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is twofold: to present a proposal for a model of educational quality management system within a process approach context for technical universities, and a conceptual model of a performance measurement system (PMS) towards the assessment of the quality level of management, core and support processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper encompasses two main parts: a theoretical portion and a case study. Within the theoretical background, the authors discuss the issue of educational quality management supported on a process approach perspective as well as performance measurement system in high education (HE). The case study reports the development of the concept of performance measurement system for technical universities.

Findings

The proposed system of educational quality management supported on a process approach, together with a conceptual model of the performance measurement system, can be implemented in every technical university. The identification of processes in the education quality management system permitted the development of the PMS. The model covers 32 key performance indicators (KPIs) for management processes, 39 for core processes and 19 for supporting ones.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed performance measurement system is limited in its focus on educational processes and support of these processes. The evaluation of scientific and research activity and aspects related to financial resources is not pursued.

Originality/value

Elaboration of a conceptual model of a performance measurement system towards the assessment of the quality level of management, core and support processes is dedicated to technical universities.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 40 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 May 2024

Ali Kuzu

Purpose: Different approaches have been applied to define and measure service quality as both a process and a performance-intensive presentation. The literature agreed that…

Abstract

Purpose: Different approaches have been applied to define and measure service quality as both a process and a performance-intensive presentation. The literature agreed that service quality assessments are essential in measuring performance, however they could only reach a partial consensus. Although the Servqual scale is the most widely known and used tool in measuring service quality, it has received various criticisms. This study presents the difficulties encountered in measuring service quality and an evaluation of the Servqual scale.

Methodology: The study provides a conceptual framework, examining the research on the subject in the literature and the criticisms of the Servqual scale. It is designed as a compilation/assessment to improve the perspectives of the interested parties by bringing together evaluations about the pros and cons of the most well-known service quality scale.

Findings: Measurement of service quality is a complex business. Although it has received various criticisms, the Servqual scale which enables the measurement of quality in the services sector is still the most frequently used measurement tool.

Practical Implications: The difficulty of defining the service and its quality, which arises from the characteristics of the services, does not eliminate the necessity of measuring the quality of the service. With this study, a conceptual framework has been provided on the subject, a collective evaluation has been made for the most widely used scale, and the ground has been prepared for improvement and development in the criticisms of the scale.

Details

Sustainable Development Goals: The Impact of Sustainability Measures on Wellbeing
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-098-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Mohit Datt, Ajay Gupta, Sushendra Kumar Misra and Mahesh Gupta

The scope of this study is to explore and summarize the pool of dimensions, models and measurement techniques of service quality used in healthcare services and to propose a…

Abstract

Purpose

The scope of this study is to explore and summarize the pool of dimensions, models and measurement techniques of service quality used in healthcare services and to propose a comprehensive conceptual model for practitioners and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This research employs a comprehensive review of available literature by using multiple keywords on different electronic repositories using the recommendations of the PRISMA approach for the selection of articles. A critical analysis of available studies helped in compiling a list of core service quality dimensions in healthcare services.

Findings

This paper presents a comprehensive account of different dimensions and their measurement items used by various researchers to assess service quality in healthcare systems. Most of the researchers have used SERVQUAL model either in its original or modified form while the others have proposed and used totally different dimensions to assess the service quality in healthcare. Many dimensions are just an existing dimension of SERVQUAL that has undergone a name change while others are completely new. The dimensions used by many researchers have items drawn from more than one dimension of SERVQUAL model. The availability of so many dimensions and models adds to the confusion that researchers and practicing managers experience when determining the appropriate model to be used in their work. To mitigate this confusion, there is a need to develop a comprehensive model; the current work is an attempt to meet this need. Through our analysis, we identify four major service quality dimensions: clinical quality, infrastructural quality, relationship and managerial quality and propose a model named CIRMQUAL.

Originality/value

After exploring all available models in the domain of healthcare, this research presents the best possible areas to enhance the quality of healthcare services. It also enhances the research insights for academicians and working professionals by developing and proposing a comprehensive model for measuring healthcare service quality. The proposed model covers almost all of the service quality dimensions used by other researchers and will make the choice of dimensions/model easy for the future researchers/practitioners interested in measuring and improving the quality of services offered by their healthcare units. Such a comprehensive model has not been developed by any researcher thus far.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2022

Deepasri Prabhakar and Sudhakar Rajagopal

The concept of developing clothing sizes has taken importance in recent years due to increasing expectations of consumers for branded clothing and its value in terms of fit and…

Abstract

Purpose

The concept of developing clothing sizes has taken importance in recent years due to increasing expectations of consumers for branded clothing and its value in terms of fit and durability. The kids’ ready-to-wear brands are expected to pose the least fit issues, thereby covering a wider population of a particular size. This necessitates the standardization of measurements. The lack of standardized approaches has caused fit issues like mismatching of sizes and alterations, in a heterogenous consumer market, like India. The performance of branded apparel depends on the quality of the measurements considered in developing sizes and the approach for standardization. There is a lacuna in the measurements used by the kids’ apparel domestic brands. This study aims to propose an anthropometric approach for deriving quality measurements that can be used effectively in developing kids’ sizes to fit a wider population of kids, thereby reducing the need for alterations.

Design/methodology/approach

The measurement data was gathered through the quantitative method. An anthropometric survey was conducted by measuring school kids. A total of 544 kids (girls and boys) of age group 6–8 years were measured to obtain prime anthropometric measurements required for ready-to-wear apparel production. WHO manual and ISO 8559, 1998 meant for anthropometry survey for garment industry was referred for accurate measuring following the landmarks for measuring.

Findings

The findings revealed differences in the anthropometric measurements based on gender and age. The anthropometric measurements showed variations within the same body mass index (BMI) range. S, M and L sizes were identified within an age group. The apparel manufacturers and designers need to focus on the discrepancies occurring in the body measurements of an age group to address and control fit issues in kids ready to wear apparel.

Practical implications

The anthropometric approach can be significantly used to control undesired fit and comfort issues in kids’ ready-to-wear apparel.

Originality/value

This study helped to understand the importance of scientific measuring practices to arrive at standardized measurements to develop sizes in ready-to-wear apparel manufacturing.

Details

Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1560-6074

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2022

Lien Thi Nguyet Au, Hung Trong Hoang and Lan Thi Huong Ho

Measuring tax service quality is important as it may contribute to sustainable tax management. This study aims to develop and validate a scale that measures tax service quality…

Abstract

Purpose

Measuring tax service quality is important as it may contribute to sustainable tax management. This study aims to develop and validate a scale that measures tax service quality for enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a mixed method consisting of three focus groups with 25 participants in charge of the management of tax service for item generation, a survey of 121 enterprises for scale purification and a survey of 362 enterprises in Vietnam for main study. The scale development is tested through three important steps including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The findings reveal that the scale of tax service quality for enterprises is represented by 13 items comprising two dimensions: responsiveness and professionalism.

Practical implications

This scale can be used by tax management authorities as a convenient tool to understand and measure tax service quality.

Originality/value

Empirical studies on the measurement of tax service quality are scarce. Most studies have focused on tax service quality for individual taxpayers. There is an absence of research on a process for the development and validation of a specific, orthodox scale of tax service quality for enterprises.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2022

Hani Alkayed and Bilal Fayiz Omar

This study aims to investigate the determinants of the extent and quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) in Jordan. The study examines a number of factors…

1205

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the determinants of the extent and quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) in Jordan. The study examines a number of factors that influence the extent and quality of CSR disclosure, such as corporate characteristics, corporate governance and ownership structure.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach and a content analysis technique is used to measure the extent and quality of CSRD from annual reports. The sample is drawn from the annual reports of 118 Jordanian companies between 2010 and 2015. A CSRD index is constructed, which includes the disclosures of the following categories: environmental, human resources, product and consumers, and community involvement. This is the first study that presents a new measurement for CSR disclosure quality by using images and charts in a seven-point scale measurement.

Findings

The result reveals that the extent of CSRD is higher than quality in Jordan. Regarding the determinants of CSR disclosures, the following factors were found to have a significant relationship with both the extent and quality of CSRD: board size, non-executive directors, age of firm, foreign members on the board, number of boards meetings, the presence of audit committees, big 4, government ownership, size of firm and industry type. Non-executive directors was found to have a significant correlation with the extent of CSRD.

Research limitations/implications

The current study has some limitations; first, the study findings are limited to the Jordanian environment. Second, the study adopted a purely quantitative method, and future research could include interviews and questionnaires to gather data from financial managers and chief executive officers (CEOs). Third, the potential influences on the level and quality of CSR are not limited to the variables tested in this study. Future research can be done on new determinants, such as CEO interlocking and profitability. Finally, the sample included companies from two main sectors – the services and industrial sectors; thus, this limited the results to these two main sectors.

Practical implications

Practitioners, as firms, should develop new strategies and ensure that CSR is included in their reports. Thus, companies can achieve legitimacy for their products and activities. Policymakers must consider introducing new laws that mandate CSRDs since it has many advantages for companies and society. In addition, this research suggests amending the law to require companies to have 33% of their directors be non-executives since this will remove the negative effect on CSR disclosure. Investors must pay attention to the social activities of the companies they invest in, as CSR could have a positive effect on their market value.

Social implications

The study has indicated that Jordanian companies became increasingly more involved in CSR activities, as this growth in CSRD is linked with global increases in CSR. Moreover, the study has revealed that the highest category of CSR disclosures is related to products or services and employee information. On the other hand, the lowest category of CSR disclosures is related to community and other disclosures (extent) and environmental disclosures (quality). Furthermore, the results show that the services sector was found to have more disclosures regarding employees and community, whereas the industrial sector was more concerned about environmental and product information.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that presents a new measurement for CSR disclosure quality by using images and charts in a seven-point scale measurement. This new seven-point scale will be adopted to distinguish between poor and excellent disclosures. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in Jordan which examines the determinants of the extent and the quality of CSR for three categories, namely, corporate characteristics, corporate governance and ownership structure.

Details

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-2517

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2022

Debby Willar, Bambang Trigunarsyah, Anak Agung Diah Parami Dewi and Febriane Makalew

There are various methods to assess the failure of a road construction project that does not meet quality and performance standards. This study aims to evaluate the factors…

1088

Abstract

Purpose

There are various methods to assess the failure of a road construction project that does not meet quality and performance standards. This study aims to evaluate the factors affecting the quality management of road construction projects in Indonesia by identifying the critical challenges in implementing quality management processes and examining the countermeasures to address these problems.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, the quality management processes in Indonesian road construction projects are evaluated using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach. Quantitative data obtained from two rounds of Delphi questionnaire surveys as the primary data source, and focus group interviews as the qualitative data are used to achieve the aims of this study.

Findings

It is found that from as early as in the preconstruction stage of a project, the availability of quality standards and documentation is problematic when implementing quality management processes. The critical factor of the quality control activities of a project and the quality management roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders during road construction is the project team. This constraint deals with the interaction of the competency, commitment, and mutual cooperation among the main stakeholders to ensure that quality management processes are implemented. This implementation is a part of controlling the road pavement materials, supervising the project activities according to a specified standard, and reporting the project performance. The findings of this study add parameters relating to quality management and quality processes in a road construction project area.

Originality/value

This study is the first to evaluate the quality management processes in the construction of Indonesian road projects. The investigation identifies and evaluates the causes of the persistence of poor road quality. All revealed constraints are substantial factors that hinder the implementation of quality management processes when delivering quality road products. This study addresses the key influencing factors and scenarios related to quality management during road construction projects in Indonesia and other developing countries as practical examples and provides case-based insights for construction practitioners and civil engineering academics in developed countries.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2023

Xinyu Zhang and Liling Ge

A multi-laser sensors-based measurement instrument is proposed for the measurement of geometry errors of a differential body and quality evaluation. This paper aims to discuss the…

Abstract

Purpose

A multi-laser sensors-based measurement instrument is proposed for the measurement of geometry errors of a differential body and quality evaluation. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned idea.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the differential body is set on a rotation platform before measuring. Then one laser sensor called as “primary sensor”, is installed on the intern of the differential body. The spherical surface and four holes on the differential body are sampled by the primary sensor when the rotation platform rotates one revolution. Another sensor called as “secondary sensor”, is installed above to sample the external cylinder surface and the planar surface on the top of the differential body, and the external cylinder surface and the planar surface are high in manufacturing precision, which are used as datum surfaces to compute the errors caused by the motion of the rotation platform. Finally, the sampled points from the primary sensor are compensated to improve the measurement accuracy.

Findings

A multi-laser sensors-based measurement instrument is proposed for the measurement of geometry errors of a differential body. Based on the characteristics of the measurement data, a gradient image-based method is proposed to distinguish different objects from laser measurement data. A case study is presented to validate the measurement principle and data processing approach.

Research limitations/implications

The study investigates the possibility of correction of sensor data by the measurement results of multiple sensors to improving measurement accuracy. The proposed technique enables the error analysis and compensation by the geometric correlation relationship of various features on the measurand.

Originality/value

The proposed error compensation principle by using multiple sensors proved to be useful for the design of new measurement device for special part inspection. The proposed approach to describe the measuring data by image also is proved to be useful to simplify the measurement data processing.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 40 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2023

Dineshwar Ramdhony, Mohamed Omran and Khaled Hussainey

This paper aims to answer whether board attributes affect corporate social responsibility disclosure quality (CSRDQ) and whether these findings are sensitive to CSRDQ measurement.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to answer whether board attributes affect corporate social responsibility disclosure quality (CSRDQ) and whether these findings are sensitive to CSRDQ measurement.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the content analysis method to measure CSRDQ in annual report narratives of 41 Mauritian-listed companies for 2008–2019. System-generalized method of moments is used to test research hypotheses.

Findings

The analysis shows that board attributes affect CSRDQ. It also shows that the impact of CSRDQ is sensitive to CSRDQ measurement.

Practical implications

This study informs stakeholders on the drivers of CSRDQ. Mauritius authorities could revise the corporate governance code to enhance CSRDQ, and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius could also provide regulations/guidance to listed companies to improve their CSRDQ.

Originality/value

This study brings new insights by viewing CSRDQ based on verifiability, as verifiable CSR reporting improves the fairness of information disclosed by management.

Details

Review of Accounting and Finance, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-7702

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 January 2022

Benjamin Marcus, Elif Sisli-Ciamarra and Lee Phillip McGinnis

The paper aims to understand the role of sensory quality scoring used at the competition auctions on pricing outcomes and how the auction process could be improved to increase…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to understand the role of sensory quality scoring used at the competition auctions on pricing outcomes and how the auction process could be improved to increase sustainability in the specialty coffee market.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors build a conceptual model explaining the potential role of sensory quality scoring in generating inequitable outcomes in specialty coffee auctions. The authors' research is exploratory. The authors base the propositions on the findings of the extant literature and our analysis of data from 24 Best of Panama (BOP) Auctions that took place between 2017 and 2021.

Findings

A striking feature in recent BOP Auctions is a winner-takes-all (WTA) outcome. The authors also document the presence of significant price inversion. The authors attribute these outcomes to the interactions of information-poor producers, information-rich intermediaries and conspicuous consumers in competition auctions, where the product quality measurement is highly unreliable.

Research limitations/implications

Data need to be gathered more broadly to enable the operationalization of the current propositions into testable hypotheses.

Social implications

These strategies intend to provide guidelines for producers, consumers and other value chain participants on creating equitable solutions to a thriving industry where a WTA phenomenon occurs.

Originality/value

The current study is the first to argue that existing quality scoring practices, as well as conspicuous consumption, contribute to the inequities. Finally, the study proposes novel interventions to standardize the quality grading protocols and communicate them transparently to both producers and consumers.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 14000