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Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

To tweet or not to tweet? Exploring the effectiveness of service recovery strategies using social media

Ying Fan and Run Hong Niu

The purpose of this paper is to explore influencing factors that affect the effectiveness of service recovery strategies using social network from operations management…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore influencing factors that affect the effectiveness of service recovery strategies using social network from operations management perspective. Specifically, the authors study the relationships between social media agent responses to customer complaints, customer emotion changes and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the authors investigate the roles of recovery speed and failure severity in the service recovery process using social network platform.

Design/methodology/approach

The results are based on 347 mini cases drawn from the Twitter accounts of a sample of airlines. Grounded theory approach is used to conduct qualitative analysis using NVivo 9, a qualitative data analysis program. A conceptual framework was developed, then tested using χ2 analysis.

Findings

Agent responses that do not require customers to take further initiatives for problem solving have positive effects on customer emotion alleviation and satisfaction. In contrast, responses that provide further directions poses negative effect on service recovery outcomes. There is a strong positive linkage between customer emotion change and customer satisfaction. Surprisingly, the direct effect of recovery speed on customer emotion and satisfaction is not supported by the data. Rather, it plays a moderating role in affecting the relationship between agent responses and customer satisfaction. The qualitative data further reveals the pivotal role of failure severity, one of key service failure attributes.

Research limitations/implications

The authors study service businesses’ recovery strategies using social media. A conceptual framework is developed to link agent responses, customer emotion changes and customer satisfaction from the lens of service providers, using an operations-oriented approach. Finding on recovery speed and failure severity reveal that these variables play different roles when service recovery is operated on social media platform as compared to traditional channels. Additionally, relying on tweets as data sources has constrained us from assessing other long-term service recovery outcomes such as loyalty, repurchase intent and word of mouth. The drawback is resulted from the limited information conveyed through tweets, which tends to be short and brief. The study focusses on the airline industry, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other service industries.

Practical implications

The authors highlight the value and potential of service recovery strategies using social network and provide insights for recovery operations where agent responses should be focussing on real time problem solving. The findings support the benefits of empowering social network agents for service recovery operations. Improving recovery speed should be less of a priority as it serves as a qualifier when service recovery is operated via social network. Given the pivotal role of failure severity, it is critical for social network agents to stand in the shoes of the complaining customers, making imminent assessment of the actual failure severity and taking action accordingly in real time. In the meantime, effective communication through social network may help to lower perceived magnitude of failure by customers, which in turn enhance the effectiveness of other service recovery efforts.

Originality/value

This study is the first attempt to investigate the service recovery process using social media from an operations-oriented perspective. The results supports the potentials of employing service recovery strategies using social media.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-10-2013-0461
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

  • Service
  • Service quality
  • Qualitative analysis
  • Service operations
  • Service recovery strategies
  • Social media

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Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

An exploratory study of online review management in hospitality services

Run Hong Niu and Ying Fan

More and more customers refer to online reviews before making any purchasing decisions thanks to the increasing popularity of social media and online shopping. This…

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Abstract

Purpose

More and more customers refer to online reviews before making any purchasing decisions thanks to the increasing popularity of social media and online shopping. This phenomenon has caught the attention of business managers who are increasingly aware that online reviews provide great opportunities to connect with current and potential customers. However, both practices and research on online review management from the businesses’ perspective are fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative framework that includes the key dimensions of an online review management system.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the Grounded Theory approach, the authors conducted a multiple case study by analyzing the interviews with 11 hospitality services.

Findings

The authors found that an online review management system should go beyond the current norm of response management to incorporate key dimensions of formality, centralization, specialization, response customization, integration and review analytics.

Practical implications

The study provides a systematic guideline for online review management practices. The framework can be used as a tool for a business to evaluate existing online review management practices and develop/refine its online review management system.

Originality/value

The study contributes to online review management literature by developing a comprehensive framework to understand the structure and processes of online review management. The key dimensions of an online review management system identified in this study provide an initial measurement model for the online review management construct. Furthermore, the study provides a springboard for future empirical validation and refinement of the key factors for effective online review management.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-09-2016-0158
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

  • Online reviews
  • Service operations
  • Management systems
  • Hospitality services
  • Online review management
  • Social media sites

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Article
Publication date: 9 October 2020

Crowdsourcing: a systematic review of the literature using text mining

Ioanna Pavlidou, Savvas Papagiannidis and Eric Tsui

This study is a systematic literature review of crowdsourcing that aims to present the research evidence so far regarding the extent to which it can contribute to…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study is a systematic literature review of crowdsourcing that aims to present the research evidence so far regarding the extent to which it can contribute to organisational performance and produce innovations and provide insights on how organisations can operationalise it successfully.

Design/methodology/approach

The systematic literature review revolved around a text mining methodology analysing 106 papers.

Findings

The themes identified are performance, innovation, operational aspects and motivations. The review revealed a few potential directions for future research in each of the themes considered.

Practical implications

This study helps researchers to consider the recent themes on crowdsourcing and identify potential areas for research. At the same time, it provides practitioners with an understanding of the usefulness and process of crowdsourcing and insights on what the critical elements are in order to organise a successful crowdsourcing project.

Originality/value

This study employed quantitative content analysis in order to identify the main research themes with higher reliability and validity. It is also the first review on crowdsourcing that incorporates the relevant literature on crowdfunding as a value-creation tool.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 120 no. 11
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-08-2020-0474
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

  • Crowdsourcing
  • Crowdfunding
  • Crowd venturing
  • Systematic literature review
  • Innovation
  • New product development
  • Platforms
  • Projects
  • Collective intelligence
  • Wisdom of the crowd

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Article
Publication date: 11 October 2011

Adopting innovative procurement techniques: Obstacles and drivers for adopting public private partnerships in New Zealand

Tingting Liu and Suzanne Wilkinson

Although public‐private partnerships (PPPs) have been used internationally, the New Zealand Government has only recently started to consider using PPPs to deliver public…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although public‐private partnerships (PPPs) have been used internationally, the New Zealand Government has only recently started to consider using PPPs to deliver public assets and services. However, there is uncertainty about whether the New Zealand Government should actively enter into PPP arrangements. The government lacks a robust decision‐making tool for assisting with choosing alternative procurement methods. PPPs are seen as risky, but innovative procurement options, with obstacles to overcome before they use can become common place. Nervousness about the use of PPPs requires the New Zealand Government to have a thorough understanding of the drivers and obstacles, and also to understand the applicability of international PPP experience to New Zealand. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers and obstacles for adopting PPPs in New Zealand and provide details on how these obstacles might be overcome by using innovative country‐specific solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews with senior industry players and round table discussions are the research methods used.

Findings

The research found that the drivers for PPP adoption include acceleration of infrastructure provision, better risk allocation, whole of life cost savings, improved quality of services, access additional revenue sources, benefits for local economic and social development, and improved project scrutiny. The results show that the drivers appear to be more than securing private financing for public infrastructure. Greater efficiency in the use of resources has been emphasised by New Zealand practitioners. With regard to the apparent obstacles, research showed these to be: political, social and legal risks, unfavourable economic and commercial conditions, high transaction costs and lengthy lead time, problems related to the public sector and problems with the private sector. Possible solutions to these obstacles are derived from national and international research and assessed for their applicability to New Zealand.

Research limitations/implications

The paper presents discussion on the concerns expressed by the New Zealand industry about PPPs at strategic, institutional, and industry level. The identified obstacles and suggested solutions provide some initial guidance on how to proceed with PPP implementation in New Zealand. More research needs to be done to understand the various key facets identified here (e.g. tendering process, contractual arrangement, and risk allocation) and their wider effects. The research is based on interviews with a limited number of senior industry respondents, along with the general results of three industry round table discussions. Therefore, follow‐on interviews need to be conducted with private sector partners, sponsors and funding bodies, in order to gain a wider view of the issues under investigation.

Originality/value

The findings of the research are of assistance to decision makers in both the public and private sectors in New Zealand. By understanding the drivers and obstacles for PPP adoption, and posing solutions to these obstacles, the New Zealand construction industry might be in a better position to adopt PPP schemes.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/14714171111175918
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

  • New Zealand
  • Construction industry
  • Government policy
  • Private sector organizations
  • Partnerships
  • Project delivery
  • Infrastructure

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Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

Enhanced and changing roles of school librarians under the digital age

Patrick Lo and Dickson K.W. Chiu

The purpose of this paper is to explore the recent viewpoint of classroom teachers and school administration about the role of school librarians, which is lacking adequate…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the recent viewpoint of classroom teachers and school administration about the role of school librarians, which is lacking adequate studies. The current trend of fast-evolving information and communication technologies (ICT) and the emphasis on enquiry-based learning has increasing impacts on school curriculum and the required library support.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a qualitative analysis of interviews on three practicing secondary school librarians in Hong Kong on three separate occasions to explore a different, richer type of data, in particular new requirements and issues that a questionnaire survey could provide.

Findings

The new roles of the school librarians improving teaching and learning effectiveness under this environment include: being information literacy specialists, leading library improvement projects and providing classroom teaching collaboration and support.

Originality/value

This is one of the very few qualitative studies reporting professional practices and changing roles amongst school librarians in Hong Kong. The results of this study are of practical interest to education policymakers, school administrators, practicing school librarians and educators with a vested interest capitalizing on the school library’s potentials to positively affect students’ achievements.

Details

New Library World, vol. 116 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-05-2015-0037
ISSN: 0307-4803

Keywords

  • Qualitative research
  • Information literacy skills
  • Educational roles
  • Librarian-teacher collaboration
  • School librarianship
  • Teacher librarians

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Article
Publication date: 19 June 2020

Review on behavioral economics and behavioral finance

Wing-Keung Wong

This paper aims to give a brief review on behavioral economics and behavioral finance and discusses some of the previous research on agents' utility functions, applicable…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to give a brief review on behavioral economics and behavioral finance and discusses some of the previous research on agents' utility functions, applicable risk measures, diversification strategies and portfolio optimization.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors also cover related disciplines such as trading rules, contagion and various econometric aspects.

Findings

While scholars could first develop theoretical models in behavioral economics and behavioral finance, they subsequently may develop corresponding statistical and econometric models, this finally includes simulation studies to examine whether the estimators or statistics have good power and size. This all helps us to better understand financial and economic decision-making from a descriptive standpoint.

Originality/value

The research paper is original.

Details

Studies in Economics and Finance, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SEF-10-2019-0393
ISSN: 1086-7376

Keywords

  • Behavioral finance
  • Applications
  • Behavioral economics
  • Theoretical models
  • Econometric and statistical models
  • A10
  • G00
  • G31
  • O32

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Article
Publication date: 31 August 2019

Pervasive sensing technologies for facility management: a critical review

Jinying Xu, Ke Chen, Anna Elizabeth Zetkulic, Fan Xue, Weisheng Lu and Yuhan Niu

The practice of facility management (FM) has been evolving with the rapid development of pervasive sensing technologies (PSTs) such as sensors, automatic identification…

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Abstract

Purpose

The practice of facility management (FM) has been evolving with the rapid development of pervasive sensing technologies (PSTs) such as sensors, automatic identification (auto-ID), laser scanning and photogrammetry. Despite the proliferation of research on the use of PSTs for FM, a comprehensive review of such research is missing from the literature. This study aims to cover the knowledge void by examining the status quo and challenges of the selected PSTs with a focus on FM.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviewed 204 journal papers recounting cases of using PSTs for FM. The reviewed papers were extracted from Elsevier Scopus database using the advanced search.

Findings

Findings of this study revealed that PSTs and FM applications form a many-to-many mapping, i.e. one PST could facilitate many FM applications, and one application can also be supported by various PSTs. It is also found that energy modeling and management is the most referred purpose in FM to adopt PSTs, while space management, albeit important, received the least attention. Five challenges are identified, which include high investment on PSTs, data storage problem, absence of proper data exchange protocols for data interoperability, a lack of mature data processing methods for data utilization and privacy of users.

Originality/value

This paper paints a full picture of PSTs adoption for FM. It pinpoints the promising explorations for tackling the key challenges to future development.

Details

Facilities , vol. 38 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2019-0024
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

  • Facility management
  • Laser scanning
  • Photogrammetry
  • Videogrammetry
  • Sensor
  • Auto-ID

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Article
Publication date: 14 January 2019

Swarm intelligence approaches in supply chain management: potentials, challenges and future research directions

Gunjan Soni, Vipul Jain, Felix T.S. Chan, Ben Niu and Surya Prakash

It is worth mentioning that in supply chain management (SCM), managerial decisions are often based on optimization of resources. Till the early 2000s, supply chain…

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Abstract

Purpose

It is worth mentioning that in supply chain management (SCM), managerial decisions are often based on optimization of resources. Till the early 2000s, supply chain optimization problems were being addressed by conventional programming approaches such as Linear Programming, Mixed-Integer Linear Programming and Branch-and-Bound methods. However, the solution convergence in such approaches was slow. But with the advent of Swarm Intelligence (SI)-based algorithms like particle swarm optimization and ant colony optimization, a significant improvement in solution of these problems has been observed. The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the application of SI algorithms in SCM. The analysis will eventually lead to development of a generalized SI implementation framework for optimization problems in SCM.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured state-of-the-art literature review is presented, which explores the applications of SI algorithms in SCM. It reviews 56 articles published in peer-reviewed journals since 1999 and uses several classification schemes which are critical in designing and solving a supply chain optimization problem using SI algorithms.

Findings

The paper revels growth of swarm-based algorithms and seems to be dominant among all nature-inspired algorithms. The SI algorithms have been used extensively in most of the realms of supply chain network design because of the flexibility in their design and rapid convergence. Large size problems, difficult to manage using exact algorithms could be efficiently handled using SI algorithms. A generalized framework for SI implementation in SCM is proposed which is beneficial to industry practitioners and researchers.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a generic formulation of optimization problems in distribution network design, vehicle routing, resource allocation, inventory management and supplier management areas of SCM which could be solved using SI algorithms. This review also provides a generic framework for SI implementation in supply chain network design and identifies promising emerging issues for further study in this area.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-02-2018-0070
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

  • Distribution management
  • Supply-chain management
  • Resource optimization

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Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Spatial difference analysis of residential energy consumption, income and carbon emissions in China

Yongxia Ding and Shuwen Niu

This paper aims to analyze the internal relationships and tendency of residential energy consumption, income and carbon emissions.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the internal relationships and tendency of residential energy consumption, income and carbon emissions.

Design/methodology/approach

Taking 30 provinces of China as the analysis unit and dividing them into two types of urban and rural consumer groups, the panel data model was built. In addition, panel unit root test, panel cointegration test and panel Granger causality test were also used.

Findings

The results showed that there are long-run equilibrium relationships between the three variables, which show the regular tendency in the spatial process. The elasticity coefficients of residential energy consumption and CO2 emissions vary across the three regions and decline continuously from the western to central and eastern regions. In addition, geographic location is also an important factor on the energy consumption and CO2 emissions in residential sector.

Originality/value

This paper provides some points for policies on cutting energy use and pollution in residential sector.

Details

International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-01-2016-0004
ISSN: 1750-6220

Keywords

  • CO2 emission
  • Regression
  • Income
  • Co-integration
  • Panel data model
  • Residential energy consumption

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Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Heuristic approaches for operational aircraft maintenance routing problem with maximum flying hours and man-power availability considerations

Abdelrahman E.E. Eltoukhy, Felix T.S. Chan, S.H. Chung, Ben Niu and X.P. Wang

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to propose an operational model for aircraft maintenance routing problem (AMRP) rather than tactical models that are commonly…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to propose an operational model for aircraft maintenance routing problem (AMRP) rather than tactical models that are commonly used in the literature. Second, to develop a fast and responsive solution method in order to cope with the frequent changes experienced in the airline industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Two important operational considerations were considered, simultaneously. First one is the maximum flying hours, and second one is the man-power availability. On the other hand, ant colony optimization (ACO), simulated annealing (SA), and genetic algorithm (GA) approaches were proposed to solve the model, and the upper bound was calculated to be the criteria to assess the performance of each meta-heuristic. After attempting to solve the model by these meta-heuristics, the authors noticed further improvement chances in terms of solution quality and computational time. Therefore, a new solution algorithm was proposed, and its performance was validated based on 12 real data from the EgyptAir carrier. Also, the model and experiments were extended to test the effect of the operational considerations on the profit.

Findings

The computational results showed that the proposed solution algorithm outperforms other meta-heuristics in finding a better solution in much less time, whereas the operational considerations improve the profitability of the existing model.

Research limitations/implications

The authors focused on some operational considerations rather than tactical considerations that are commonly used in the literature. One advantage of this is that it improves the profitability of the existing models. On the other hand, identifying future research opportunities should help academic researchers to develop new models and improve the performance of the existing models.

Practical implications

The experiment results showed that the proposed model and solution methods are scalable and can thus be adopted by the airline industry at large.

Originality/value

In the literature, AMRP models were cast with approximated assumption regarding the maintenance issue, while neglecting the man-power availability consideration. However, in this paper, the authors attempted to relax that maintenance assumption, and consider the man-power availability constraints. Since the result showed that these considerations improve the profitability by 5.63 percent in the largest case. The proposed operational considerations are hence significant. Also, the authors utilized ACO, SA, and GA to solve the model for the first time, and developed a new solution algorithm. The value and significance of the new algorithm appeared as follow. First, the solution quality was improved since the average improvement ratio over ACO, SA, and GA goes up to 8.30, 4.45, and 4.00 percent, respectively. Second, the computational time was significantly improved since it does not go beyond 3 seconds in all the 12 real cases, which is considered much lesser compared to ACO, SA, and GA.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 117 no. 10
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2016-0475
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

  • Simulated annealing
  • Genetic algorithm
  • Ant colony optimization
  • Aircraft maintenance routing problem

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