Suchergebnisse

Increasingly, academics have to demonstrate that their research has academic
impact. Universities normally use journal rankings and journal impact factors
to assess the research impact of individual academics. More recently,
citation counts for individual articles and the h-index have also been used
to measure the academic impact of academics. There are, however, several
serious problems with relying on journal rankings, journal impact factors and
citation counts. For example, articles without any impact may be published in
highly ranked journals or journals with high impact factor, whereas articles
with high impact could be published in lower ranked journals or journals with
low impact factor. Citation counts can also be easily gamed and manipulated
and the h-index disadvantages early career academics. This paper discusses
these and several other problems and suggests alternatives such as
post-publication peer review and open-access journals.

Business, management and business ethics literature pay little attention to the topic of AI robots. The broad spectrum of potential ethical issues pertains to using driverless cars, AI robots in care homes, and in the military, such as Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. However, there is a scarcity of in-depth theoretical, methodological or empirical studies that address these ethical issues, for instance, the impact of morality and where accountability resides in AI robots' use. To address this dearth, this study offers a conceptual framework that interpretively develops the ethical implications of AI robot applications, drawing on descriptive and normative ethical theory. The new framework elaborates on how the locus of morality (human to AI agency) and moral intensity combine within context-specific AI robot applications, and how this might influence accountability thinking. Our theorization indicates that in situations of escalating AI agency and situational moral intensity, accountability is widely dispersed between actors and institutions. 'Accountability clusters' are outlined to illustrate interrelationships between the locus of morality, moral intensity and accountability and how these invoke different categorical responses: (i) illegal, (ii) immoral, (iii) permissible and (iv) supererogatory pertaining to using AI robots. These enable discussion of the ethical implications of using AI robots, and associated accountability challenges for a constellation of actors – from designer, individual/organizational users to the normative and regulative approaches of industrial/governmental bodies and inter-governmental regimes.

Complexity surrounding the holistic nature of customer experience has made measuring customer perceptions of interactive service experiences challenging. At the same time, advances in technology and changes in methods for collecting explicit customer feedback are generating increasing volumes of unstructured textual data, making it difficult for managers to analyze and interpret this information. Consequently, text mining, a method enabling automatic extraction of information from textual data, is gaining in popularity. However, this method has performed below expectations in terms of depth of analysis of customer experience feedback and accuracy. In this study, we advance linguistics-based text mining modeling to inform the process of developing an improved framework. The proposed framework incorporates important elements of customer experience, service methodologies, and theories such as cocreation processes, interactions, and context. This more holistic approach for analyzing feedback facilitates a deeper analysis of customer feedback experiences, by encompassing three value creation elements: activities, resources, and context (ARC). Empirical results show that the ARC framework facilitates the development of a text mining model for analysis of customer textual feedback that enables companies to assess the impact of interactive service processes on customer experiences. The proposed text mining model shows high accuracy levels and provides flexibility through training. As such, it can evolve to account for changing contexts over time and be deployed across different (service) business domains; we term it an "open learning" model. The ability to timely assess customer experience feedback represents a prerequisite for successful cocreation processes in a service environment.

Complexity surrounding the holistic nature of customer experience has made measuring customer perceptions of interactive service experiences challenging. At the same time, advances in technology and changes in methods for collecting explicit customer feedback are generating increasing volumes of unstructured textual data, making it difficult for managers to analyze and interpret this information. Consequently, text mining, a method enabling automatic extraction of information from textual data, is gaining in popularity. However, this method has performed below expectations in terms of depth of analysis of customer experience feedback and accuracy. In this study, we advance linguistics-based text mining modeling to inform the process of developing an improved framework. The proposed framework incorporates important elements of customer experience, service methodologies, and theories such as cocreation processes, interactions, and context. This more holistic approach for analyzing feedback facilitates a deeper analysis of customer feedback experiences, by encompassing three value creation elements: activities, resources, and context (ARC). Empirical results show that the ARC framework facilitates the development of a text mining model for analysis of customer textual feedback that enables companies to assess the impact of interactive service processes on customer experiences. The proposed text mining model shows high accuracy levels and provides flexibility through training. As such, it can evolve to account for changing contexts over time and be deployed across different (service) business domains; we term it an "open learning" model. The ability to timely assess customer experience feedback represents a prerequisite for successful cocreation processes in a service environment. © The Author(s) 2014.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how students perceive the services they are offered at a German university and how satisfied they are with them.Design/methodology/approachAn evaluation study using a new tool to measure 15 dimensions of student satisfaction at an institutional level that covers most aspects of student life was used. It was decided to develop a new measurement tool as many existing surveys are poorly designed, lack standardization and give no evidence concerning reliability or validity. Questionnaires were handed out in eight lectures for the pilot study and 18 lectures for the main study. The response rate was 99 percent. A total of 374 students (pilot study) and 544 students (main study) filled in the newly developed questionnaires using Likert scales.FindingsThe study gave a valuable insight into how students perceive the quality of the services offered at a university and how satisfied they are with these offerings. The results show that students' satisfaction with their university is based on a relatively stable person‐environment relationship. Thus, the satisfaction of students seems to reflect quite well perceived quality differences of offered services and of the wider environment. Students were particularly satisfied with the school placements and the atmosphere among students. Students were mostly dissatisfied with the university buildings and the quality of the lecture theatres.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study involved only two samples of students from one university, the results cannot be generalized to the German student population as a whole.Originality/valueThe study was the first to successfully apply a measurement tool, which has previously not been used. The study has hopefully opened up an area of research and methodology that could provide considerable further benefits for researchers interested in this topic. It also shows how the concept of student satisfaction could be assessed in future studies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the attributes of effective complaint management in business‐to‐business relationships, and to reveal the underlying benefits that buying organizations are looking for when complaining.Design/methodology/approachA semi‐standardized qualitative technique called laddering was applied successfully to an online environment with 22 representatives of companies in the manufacturing industry participating.FindingsThe resulting hierarchical value map displays 13 attributes which exemplify the complaint resolution management expectations. A total of 14 constructs represent consequences of such resolution activities, while four constructs can be interpreted as values. Take "Quick action" is the most important of the expected attributes and behaviours of complaint resolution management. Four consequences seem to dominate the assessment: Financial benefits, Prevention of future problems, Solution, and Effective resolution handling. "Maintain supplier relationships" appears as a dominant value in the perceptions of respondents, with half of them mentioning this as an end.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the exploratory nature of the study in general and the scope and size of its sample in particular, the findings are tentative in nature. The study involved a group of representatives of large UK manufacturing companies with complaint handling responsibilities and so the results cannot be generalised.Originality/valueThe findings enrich the existing limited stock of knowledge on complaint management in business relationships by developing a deeper understanding of the attributes that complaining customer companies desire from suppliers, as well as the underlying business logic (i.e. values) for these expectations. The quality of the results also suggests that the laddering questionnaire technique can be transferred effectively to an online environment.

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of Service Management and the definitive published version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-04-2015-0125 ; Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a movement within the service research community that aspires to help the billions of impoverished people across the world achieve better service from each other, from their communities, from corporations, from their governments, and from nongovernmental organizations. The authors believe every human being is worthy of being served properly. To achieve this purpose, understanding and learning from this huge low-income segment of society known as the base of the pyramid (BoP) is essential. There are myths about the BoP that need to be dispelled and there is a fundamental lack of service research on this important problem. Design/methodology/approach – The existence of an extensive BoP literature combined with service research priorities has called attention to drafting research agendas. Human service systems are explored historically and systems theory provides a perspective for understanding and reducing poverty. Transformative service research, service design research, and community action research are presented to illustrate three research approaches that can contribute to understanding and then better serving the needs of the neglected billions of humanity. Findings – First, the authors present a practical and meaningful call to action by making the case for the service research community to contribute to poverty alleviation with the creation of fresh ideas and research agendas. Second, the authors describe the ample opportunity for conducting service research in and with the BoP and thereby expanding service knowledge about the BoP. Third, the authors suggest a number of approaches for service researchers to join this new movement and help improve the well-being of billions of impoverished people. Social implications – Most existing service research comes from highly developed Anglo-Saxon countries and concerns the service problems of customers in affluent societies. Therefore, there is a fundamental lack of service research at the BoP. The social implications are truly global. Poverty is a global service system problem that can be reduced. Effective poverty alleviation solutions in one part of the world can be adapted to other parts of the world. Originality/value – This paper is a new and very original call to action to the service research community. First, with the exception of a few previous manuscripts calling for research on the BoP, this is the first time a collaborative effort has been made to start systematically changing this knowledge gap. Second, the service research community has never worked on a project of this magnitude. The authors hope to offer a role model to other academic communities as to how to marshal their resources to have a collective, positive impact on the well-being of the world's impoverished.