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1 – 10 of over 269000Inventory service levels are a concern of every inventory system. Poor service levels may result in loss of customers and sales, whereas excessive service levels result in loss of…
Abstract
Inventory service levels are a concern of every inventory system. Poor service levels may result in loss of customers and sales, whereas excessive service levels result in loss of money due to large inventories. Although inventory service levels have been discussed widely in the professional literature, the emphasis has been on service levels during replenishment lead times. Overall service levels, which are much more relevant to customers, have received little attention, and the results presented are often mistaken. This article reviews measures of inventory service levels both for single and multiple items, relates single item measures during lead times to their overall counterparts, and shows that overall measures are not only more relevant to customers, but also require lower safety stock from the provider of the goods.
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Service level agreements provide a mechanism for establishing a betterrelationship between the core business and the infrastructure andservices that support it. It provides a…
Abstract
Service level agreements provide a mechanism for establishing a better relationship between the core business and the infrastructure and services that support it. It provides a statement of various service level options from which a number can be selected to support the customer or client, which describes the service to be given specific timing, frequency and cost. It enables decisions to be taken at a strategic level as to how these can be matched to achieve business profitability. The process is a continuing one and requires commitment at the highest level, to ensure not only that it is adopted properly, but that the services defined are properly and effectively delivered. Describes the various steps in the process and in broad terms how it can be implemented.
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Rajiv Kumar, Amit Sachan and Arindam Mukherjee
The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that enable citizens to adopt e-government services at different maturity levels: information, two-way communication…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that enable citizens to adopt e-government services at different maturity levels: information, two-way communication, transaction and political participation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a grounded approach by conducting semi-structured interviews.
Findings
The study reveals that the factors influencing the adoption of e-government services vary at different levels. It identifies 27 influencing factors. In total, 13 of these factors influence adoption at the information level; 13 at the two-way communication level; 25 at the transactional level; and 16 at the political participation level. Auxiliary facilities, connectedness, corruption avoidance, transparency and fairness, customer support and forced adoption, not commonly discussed as influencing factors for e-government adoption in the extant literature, have been revealed in this study.
Research limitations/implications
This study uses qualitative research and rather than generalization, the focus is explicitly on obtaining an in-depth understanding. Although the sampling used is sufficient for the purpose of this study and allows reasonable conclusions to be drawn; however, it cannot be considered representative of a vast country like India. Academicians and information systems researchers can use these findings for further research.
Practical implications
This study advances the understanding of e-government adoption. The findings have potential implications for public administrators and policymakers in successfully designing, developing and implementing e-government services at different maturity levels.
Originality/value
Existing e-government adoption theories are of limited scope and do not capture and specify the complete essence of citizens’ adoption characteristics at different levels of e-government services. Hence, a theoretical gap exists, which this study aims to fill.
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Bryane Michael and Stephen Mendes
Macedonian municipalities should pass anti‐corruption ordinances in order to reduce corruption. The purpose of this paper is to review the legal issues involved in drafting such…
Abstract
Purpose
Macedonian municipalities should pass anti‐corruption ordinances in order to reduce corruption. The purpose of this paper is to review the legal issues involved in drafting such ordinances and provide legal advisors to local councils with the legal and economic analysis needed to tackle some of the more difficult and detailed questions.
Design/methodology/approach
The most important issue revolves around the creation of a model ordinance which Macedonian municipalities (or the Association of Units of Local Self‐Government of the Republic of Macedonia) could adopt in order to set‐up and run municipal‐level anti‐corruption agencies. The location of such agencies as well as their competencies (to monitor conflicts of interests, oversee asset declarations, and conduct corruption risk‐audits among others) are analysed. The paper also provides legal interpretations of Macedonian legislation and their likely impact on municipal council ordinance design in the area of anti‐corruption – providing the legal basis for positive administrative silence, the splitting of municipal procurement contracts, and (most controversially) qui tam rewards at the municipal level.
Findings
A brief regulatory impact analysis of the ordinance shows a gain of €162,900 in social welfare if such a programme were rolled‐out in Macedonia.
Originality/value
The present paper provides some of the legal analysis which previous papers lack.
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Asif Salam, Farhad Panahifar and P.J. Byrne
In today’s competitive retail industry the most critical success factor is customer service which is indicated by product availability. It is argued that in the retail industry…
Abstract
Purpose
In today’s competitive retail industry the most critical success factor is customer service which is indicated by product availability. It is argued that in the retail industry, product availability is an important measure of quality. The single most vital decision that every retailer needs to make is, how to maximize service level while keeping minimum inventory level. The purpose of this paper is to explain and demonstrate the relationship between inventory level and customer service level.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines an inventory system utilizing a simulation model based on company data obtained from a retail fast-moving-consumer goods chain operating in Thailand.
Findings
The results suggest that the achievement of a responsive service level is dependent on managing an efficient supply chain in addition to logistics cost reductions. The findings also reveal the effect the inventory level has on the service level. From the findings of this study, demand variability and service level have been found to have the most significant influence on the inventory level. From the findings, it can also be shown that real and accurate information is very important for service supply chains.
Practical implications
The paper promotes the importance of having an appropriate inventory management policy for a retail chain which should be driven by retail companies in order to better balance inventory and service levels.
Originality/value
The relationship between the inventory level and customer service level lead to different outcomes at different combinations of inventory and service levels. Significant relationships were found between inventory and service levels.
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Anu H. Bask, Markku Tinnilä and Mervi Rajahonka
In recent decades, supply chains have diverged and new types of services and operators have emerged in the logistics sector. The purpose of this paper is to focus on analyzing…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent decades, supply chains have diverged and new types of services and operators have emerged in the logistics sector. The purpose of this paper is to focus on analyzing service strategies and service‐related business models, as well as their modular business processes in logistic services. The aims are to describe these three levels and to match strategic service positioning with business models and modular business processes. Different types of services are analyzed and the analyses are conducted on both the industry and corporate levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical focus of the paper illustrates frameworks for service strategy, service positioning, business models, and business processes. The corporate level approach aims to describe the efficiency and quality of services and their processes, while the industry level approach focuses on service strategies in an industry and on the organization of business, i.e. business models. A case study is used to illustrate the strategic level divergence in logistic services and to match this with the business model framework and the business process approach.
Findings
The findings show that a match exists between service strategy, business models, and operational level business processes. Standardization, service productization and modularization of services, and also service production structures are useful tools for efficient service production and output.
Originality/value
Companies are currently examining new roles in supply chains and the logistics market. For management, the frameworks presented facilitate analysis of the different options available for the firm in terms of strategic positioning, structural business model portfolio, and modular business processes. Based on the theoretical frameworks, it is possible to evaluate past developments and also predict the future of services.
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Xiufeng Cheng, Jinqing Yang and Lixin Xia
This paper aims to propose an extensible, service-oriented framework for context-aware data acquisition, description, interpretation and reasoning, which facilitates the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose an extensible, service-oriented framework for context-aware data acquisition, description, interpretation and reasoning, which facilitates the development of mobile applications that provide a context-awareness service.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors propose the context data reasoning framework (CDRFM) for generating service-oriented contextual information. Then they used this framework to composite mobile sensor data into low-level contextual information. Finally, the authors exploited some high-level contextual information that can be inferred from the formatted low-level contextual information using particular inference rules.
Findings
The authors take “user behavior patterns” as an exemplary context information generation schema in their experimental study. The results reveal that the optimization of service can be guided by the implicit, high-level context information inside user behavior logs. They also prove the validity of the authors’ framework.
Research limitations/implications
Further research will add more variety of sensor data. Furthermore, to validate the effectiveness of our framework, more reasoning rules need to be performed. Therefore, the authors may implement more algorithms in the framework to acquire more comprehensive context information.
Practical implications
CDRFM expands the context-awareness framework of previous research and unifies the procedures of acquiring, describing, modeling, reasoning and discovering implicit context information for mobile service providers.
Social implications
Support the service-oriented context-awareness function in application design and related development in commercial mobile software industry.
Originality/value
Extant researches on context awareness rarely considered the generation contextual information for service providers. The CDRFM can be used to generate valuable contextual information by implementing more reasoning rules.
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Mónica Pazmiño-Sarango, Mijail Naranjo-Zolotov and Frederico Cruz-Jesus
The paper explores the main drivers of the regional-level digital divide in Ecuadorian cities and the extent to which the information and communication technology (ICT) adoption…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the main drivers of the regional-level digital divide in Ecuadorian cities and the extent to which the information and communication technology (ICT) adoption by citizens influences local-level policymakers' decisions to develop eGovernment services.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used an exploratory approach. The authors empirically assessed the provision of eGovernment services in each of the 36 Ecuadorian local governments following the Local Online Service Index (LOSI) measurement scale proposed by the United Nations, and then evaluated the drivers of the eGovernment divide at a local level. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used.
Findings
The findings indicate that the digital divide is driven by income and education disparities, and that eGovernment availability is driven by ICT use. It appears that proper attention to technology use by its citizens is not being given by local-level policymakers in Ecuador when they devise their eGovernment strategy.
Research limitations/implications
Because the data were available at different levels of aggregation, there may be some inaccuracy of the indicators and lack of generalizability. Researchers are encouraged to test this hypotheses with data at lower levels of aggregation and from different latitudes to provide a comparative view between countries.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for policymakers and local authorities regarding how the limitations on eGovernment development may be mitigated.
Originality/value
This study fulfils the need to assess digital development and its impact on eGovernment services at a city level in a developing country.
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Gordon Wills, Sherril H. Kennedy, John Cheese and Angela Rushton
To achieve a full understanding of the role ofmarketing from plan to profit requires a knowledgeof the basic building blocks. This textbookintroduces the key concepts in the art…
Abstract
To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.
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Mariah M. Jeffery, Renee J. Butler and Linda C. Malone
The purpose of this paper is to provide an approach for determining inventory levels that result in a minimum cost customer service level for specific products based on their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an approach for determining inventory levels that result in a minimum cost customer service level for specific products based on their demand characteristics and profit margin.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses logistic regression to quantify the relationship between customer service level and inventory on‐hand in relation to forecasted demand, as well to estimate the impact of factors such as forecast accuracy, customer lead‐times, and demand variability on this relationship. It then performs financial analysis in order to associate a cost with customer service level.
Findings
Empirical results based on data from a semiconductor manufacturer indicate significant cost‐savings can be achieved by applying the proposed method over the organization's current ad hoc practices.
Research limitations/implications
The minimum cost customer service level identified via the methodology is based on values of dynamic factors that are specific to the time when data were collected. Therefore, frequent updating is necessary to ensure the customer service level remains close to the minimum cost. Future research could identify the ideal frequency for updating inventory levels based on cost minimization and production stability.
Originality/value
This research presents an inventory management methodology for organizations with variable, non‐stationary demand. In contrast to much of the current inventory modeling literature, in which service level goals are selected in an ad hoc or a priori manner, this research determines an ideal (minimum cost) customer service level from the supplier's perspective based on products' unique characteristics.
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