Choice Of Service Provider Research Articles

Impact of electronic word-of-mouth metrics on service provider choice moderated by organizational image: Insights from Zimbabwean polytechnics

Impact of electronic word-of-mouth metrics on service provider choice moderated by organizational image: Insights from Zimbabwean polytechnics

Citizens’ choice of daycare provider: A conjoint experiment

In modern welfare states, citizens’ choice of service providers is consequential for both service quality and the design of public services. Politicians and other central decision makers have a substantial interest in understanding how different factors affect citizens’ choice of service and how citizens make trade-offs between these factors. Using a conjoint experiment on a representative sample of Danish citizens, we study the importance of different organizational factors in the choice of daycare provider. Our results show that all included factors have meaningful effects on the propensity to choose a given provider. However, information about public vs. private ownership does not seem to have an impact on service choice. Additionally, we study whether having a high proportion of staff with pedagogical education can offset the negative impact of a poor staff to child ratio – this turns out not to be the case.

Sustainability assurance and provider choice: a meta-regression analysis

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the cumulative evidence on the determinants of sustainability assurance (SA) reports and the choice of assurance provider quality. It addresses the contradictory and inconsistent findings of past studies conducted over the past two decades.Design/methodology/approachThe authors undertake a meta-regression analysis that enables systematic, comparative assessment of the variables associated with the choice of SA and the type of assurance provider. The authors undertake a chronological analysis with the aim of identifying systematic differences in the empirical evidence across distinct time periods.FindingsThe results indicate that there is very little evidence to support many of the expected associations between commonly studied predictor variables (namely, measures based on agency and corporate governance conceptions) and the choice of SA and the assurance provider type. As a result, research on this topic does not make as effective a contribution as might be expected. There is, however, a time period difference. The authors find results from studies using company data prior to 2010 are significantly different from those using post-2010 data. The results indicate the decision to publish SA to be significantly associated with companies in the oil industry and utilities, and larger organisations where agency costs tend to be higher. Obtaining assurance from a higher-quality provider is found to be associated with companies in environmentally sensitive industries and in stakeholder-oriented countries.Practical implicationsThe study shows that as yet there is not sufficient evidence to support expected results. Users of the research should be aware of this, and researchers should know that more work is needed. The authors suggest researchers take greater care in the choice and comparability of variable measurement and expand the conceptual base when selecting predictor variables.Social implicationsCompanies need to be more transparent and accountable to critical stakeholders such as report users and regulators, and the latter should be more aware that the organisational practice of SA and choice of service provider have changed over time and are increasingly open to agency and other cultural biases.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to apply meta-regression techniques for understanding the body of literature on SA and provider choice.

The Essence and Place of Cryptocurrency in the Financial System

Abstract. Introduction. The history of the emergence of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is analyzed. Basic concepts related to blockchain technology are explained. The main focus is on issues important from an investor's point of view, as well as on technical aspects, including the essence and importance of blockchain technology. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to generalize and systematize the available information about the emergence of cryptocurrencies and analyze their patterns. Results. The specifics of digital assets and the bitcoin exchange rate in 2012-2021 were studied in more detail. It was found that on the cryptocurrency market you can earn (as well as lose) both as a trader and as a so-called cryptocurrency hodlers. A rating of cryptocurrency exchanges was developed according to the following indicators: security, number of crypto currencies, fiat currencies, advantages of the exchange, disadvantages of the exchange. Cryptocurrency exchanges are a central part of the entire digital collection ecosystem today. Currently, there are already several hundred crypto exchanges on the market, which differ in terms of transactions, security levels or listed values. In this article, we have described cryptocurrency as objectively as possible so that you can assess for yourself whether it will be the right form of investment for you. Conclusions. The wide choice of service providers and the fact that digital currencies are a relatively new form of investment means that finding the best place to trade is not easy. The cooperation of international financial conglomerates in the development of blockchain technology will save these enterprises billions of dollars per year and will be able to improve their operations and eliminate errors related to the human factor. Participants in the financial system are forced to propose standards that would apply to each participant in the network without disturbing the established status quo in international markets.

Examining the relationship between farmers’ characteristics and access to agricultural extension: Empirical evidence from northern Uganda

ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed at assessing how farmers’ access to agricultural extension is linked to farmers’ choice of extension service providers, and the crops and livestock activities engaged in at the farm level. Methodology/Design/Approach Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 342 farming households. Data analyses were conducted using the descriptive statistics and Probit binary regression model. Findings Results show that farmer access to agricultural extension depends on farmer district location, experience, group membership, use of pesticides, crop and livestock production diversity, and information source diversity. Furthermore, results show that gender, marital status, experience credit access, group membership, and livestock production diversity are the main drivers of farmers’ choice of service providers for an agricultural extension at the farm level. Lastly, leading determinants of access to agriculture for individual farm enterprises include farmer location (district), gender, marital status, education, experience, land owned, access to credit, group membership, ownership of mobile phones, and market information source diversity. Practical Implications Differentiated targeting of agricultural extension across farmer demographic structures and production objectives is not only influenced by varying factors but also important for ensuring that extension services are responsive for food and cash generation needs of local communities. Theoretical Implications This study deepens the literature on farmer access to agricultural extension with results demonstrating differences in factors that determine farmers’ choice of service providers for agricultural extension and the kind of crop and livestock activities engaged at the farm level. Originality/value This research is of high value as it presents empirical results on factors associated with the provision of agricultural extension services where there are many providers and where extension services is targeting different agricultural enterprises.

The Influence of Ethnic Identity on Consumer Behavior: Filipino and Lao Consumers in Australia

This research examines how Lao and Filipino consumers’ ethnicity and ethnic identity may influence consumer behavior and how individual acculturation may affect ethnic identity and ethnic consumer behavior in a multicultural environment. Multi-culturalism is a global phenomenon that has impacted how firms and consumers interact in Australia and Asian countries. Using self-ascribed samples from two ethnic groups (Lao and Filipino) residing in Australia, an exploratory mixed-method approach was used to examine how an individual’s ethnicity and ethnic identity influence individuals’ consumer behavior who ascribe to their respective ethnicities. To observe acculturation tendencies and any effects on consumer behavior, each ethnic group was divided into three generational sub-groups. The study revealed varying degrees of individual acculturation between three generations of consumers from the same ethnic background and between consumers from two different ethnic backgrounds. Inter-generational and inter-group differences affected the consumption of ethnic products such as food, clothes, movies, music, and choice of service providers. Implications for doing business in Asia are explored, drawing on the insights and connections that emerge from understanding the Lao and Filipino consumer behavior considering the increased intra-regional movement and multicultural clusters in Asia.

The economic costs of voucher markets for public service provision

ABSTRACT Voucher markets where governments subsidise the consumers of public services to give them a free choice of service provider are implemented by public authorities as a means to reap the supposed benefits of competition and choice. Such voucher markets imply economic costs for the public authority in the form of transaction costs, e.g., for preparation of quality standards and information material as well as approval, coordination and supervision of providers. However, voucher markets may also affect the public authority’s production costs through a competitive pressure for increased efficiency and/or by affecting the potential economies of scale for public service delivery. This article shows that in a voucher market without price competition voucher markets increase the public production costs of delivering home help services. Specifically, the larger the share of elderly persons who choose a private provider, the higher the public costs of delivering practical home help.

Fake smiles. Customer reactions to employees’ display inauthenticity and choice restrictions

AbstractFrontline employees’ fake smiles (i.e., positive emotion display inauthenticity) frequently occur despite firms’ efforts to ensure real smiles in service delivery. Previous research on the effects of display inauthenticity on customers reveals considerable heterogeneity. Attempts to resolve this have largely been limited to stable and dispositional factors, which often escape managerial control. The present research investigates the impacts of display inauthenticity, choice restrictions, and their interaction on service performance. Choice restrictions may buffer inauthenticity effects as demonstrated by results from three factorial experiments in different contexts (e.g., restrictions of service provider choice in predelivery in Study 1 and in‐store choice restrictions during service delivery in Studies 2 and 3). Frontline employees’ display inauthenticity negatively affects service performance only if customers are subjected to low but not high choice restrictions. The interaction effect is explained by customers’ interdependent self‐construal and is generalizable to actual spending behaviors. Our findings inform managers about the interplay of increasingly common inauthenticity and choice restrictions due to market shocks such as COVID‐19 and provide insights into managerial interventions that can be used to mitigate the effects of inauthenticity on customers.

Understanding Discrimination: Outcome-Relevant Information Does Not Mitigate Discrimination

Abstract People experience discrimination across a variety of domains, including at work and in dealings with public institutions, but what makes some individuals discriminate against others? Two dominant scholarly approaches—“statistical” and “taste-based”—offer different explanations. Statistical discrimination models imply that discrimination occurs because of incomplete information (informational bias), whereas taste-based discrimination models emphasize more elusive and deep-rooted cognitive biases. Adding new insights into whether discrimination is “statistical” or “taste-based,” this article examines how providing information that reduces informational bias affects discrimination. Using a preregistered survey experimental design, a representative sample of Danish residents (n = 2,024) are exposed to three unique vignettes, each involving a choice of service provider (general practitioner, babysitter, and house cleaner). Relating to gender and nativity stereotypes, we manipulate the gender of the general practitioners and the babysitters, and the country of origin of the house cleaners. Moreover, we manipulate exposure to rating cues about the service providers’ task performance, thus mitigating informational bias to some extent. Contrasting the expectations of statistical discrimination models, the performance ratings cues do not mitigate discrimination. Across all three vignettes, the participants exhibit stereotypical preferences, and the performance rating cues do not affect these discriminatory biases.

IT services offshoring from Japan: a multi-dimensional comparative analysis between India and China

PurposeThis paper aims to carry out a qualitative analysis to compare India and China as a choice of service-provider from the perspective of Japanese MNEs for information technology (IT)-IT enabled services (ITeS) offshoring destination, using the four dimensions of the cultural-administrative-geographic-economic (CAGE) distance framework by Ghemawat (2001).Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study used a mix of primary and secondary evidence to carry out a comparative evaluation of the challenges and synergies existent between India and Japan relative to China and Japan, in the context of IT-ITeS offshoring industry. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with multiple stakeholders and the findings were classified using the CAGE framework.FindingsThe paper discusses that for IT-ITeS industry, owing to its characteristics and the changing global order in the post-pandemic world, the “distances” that matter the most for business engagement between countries are – cultural, administrative and economic. Based on the comparative analysis, it was seen that China fares better than India, from a Japanese perspective, for the case of cultural and geographic distances while India had an advantage in the case of administrative and economic distances. Thus, India and Japan seem to have higher synergies and potential mutual gains by expanding engagement in the IT-ITeS industry in future.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this paper was the lack of comparable secondary data source concerning the size, growth rates, exports, employment figures for China that could have helped establish the contrast in the structure of IT-ITeS industry of India and China.Originality/valueThis study provides a framework for a comparative analysis of multiple facets of “distance” between competing service providing nations at bilateral, as well as unilateral level, in a holistic manner for the IT-ITeS offshoring industry. The results thus provide the gaps that shall be bridged by the policymakers for realizing mutual benefits.

Frontline Employees’ Display of Fake Smiles and Angry Faces: When and Why They Influence Service Performance

Service firms invest much to ensure authentic and positive emotion displays from frontline employees. And yet, inauthentic positive displays (fake smiles) remain common, and at times, employees even show authentic negative displays (e.g., anger), thereby compromising service performance. Customer reactions to such unwanted emotion displays are heterogeneous, so managers need to know when possible negative effects on service performance are more or less strong. The literature on customer reactions to inauthentic displays is inconclusive and focuses on the moment of service delivery. We shine light on how predelivery choice confidence shapes customer reactions to inauthentic positive displays and demonstrate that customers’ high confidence in their service provider choice mitigates the negative effects of display inauthenticity. We present evidence in terms of tipping in a field study and replicate this interaction effect in three experiments. A serial mediation by cognitive dissonance and decision regret explains the conditional effect of inauthenticity. We also contrast inauthentic positive displays with authentic negative displays. The latter yield the worst service performance, unmitigated by choice confidence. We provide recommendations on how to ensure authentic positive displays (e.g., recruitment, resources, and rewards), taking into account circumstances that affect choice confidence and market shocks (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic).

Logistic evaluation of the choice of service provider in transport under different conditions

Article is about a proposal new methodology assessment of functional performance of material flows as a tool for management decision-making in the selection of suitable suppliers of logistical services in railway transport.

Citizen Contracting: What Went Wrong with the UK's Green Deal and Verify?

Citizen contracting describes public service provision models in which decisions traditionally taken by the State are instead taken by citizens as the recipients of that service. These decisions may relate to the choice of service provider, or to the nature of the service itself. While approaches such as voucher schemes for schools, healthcare, or childcare have been widely debated, this paper focuses on two novel approaches adopted in the UK between 2010 and 2015: the Green Deal for energy-saving home renovations and the Verify system for online identity assurance. These schemes targeted environmental and innovation objectives respectively – and both failed to achieve the intended results. The paper asks how such schemes fit within the broader taxonomy of public service delivery models which involve an element of citizen choice, and how they affect policy objectives currently embedded in public procurement rules, such as transparency and accountability. Drawing lessons from the Green Deal and Verify, it proposes criteria for evaluating citizen contracting models which take account of the full range of desiderata attached to public procurement.

LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ BEHAVIOUR AT MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

In our digitalized world, foreign language skills are becoming vital in the life of multinational companies. In addition to traditional teaching methods, online teaching methods play an important role in language teaching. In this paper we try to compare the perceived effectiveness of online and offline teaching methods. We also aim to understand language learners’ behaviour, including their motivation, service provider choice, information sources considered in their choice and their willingness to pay. In this paper, we also examine the extent to which language learners are supported in everyday company teaching by the Eflow by SZABO online software, which can be used in a flexible form of education. A combined (online and paper-based) survey was conducted among language school students who are using Eflow by SZABO. To analyse the data, we have used descriptive statistics and factor analysis. We have found that language schools are considered to be the most effective form of language learning, closely followed by Eflow by SZABO. Individual learning is also seen as being more effective than learning in groups. The findings can be used by scholars and in throughout language teaching business too.

A new framework for security and trust in cloud computing

Cloud computing is a new concept that refers to a pool of virtual computers resources. Dynamic and scalable internet-based development which is often presented as a service has turned it into a very interesting and significant topic. The service can be a physical machine, virtual machine, software and so on. This study has investigated the problem of building up confidence in cloud environments. To this end, it has designed a model which makes it possible for the users, based on their requirements, to compare a variety of cloud server providers and make their own choice of service provider. The proposed framework enjoys the features of continual availability of trust management service, allocating concessions to cloud service providers, of course, depending on the type of service rendered, utilizing filtering to stop improper storage of ideas, having access to continual service for storing service providers’ information and of allowing transactions to unfamiliar service providers due to risk assessment, and finally storing users’ data in the cloud based on user-defined encoded algorithm. The hopes are that the designed model owing to the above mentioned characteristics can succeed in building trust between users and cloud service providers.

Management of Repair Service Structure of Industrial Enterprise When Transferring Repair Equipment for Outsourcing

in modern conditions, when the equipment of domestic industrial enterprises is significantly worn out, it becomes important to use outsourcing repairs as a way to improve the reliability of equipment by ensuring the quality of repair. The decision to outsource is made on the basis of different criteria using different approaches, some of which have certain drawbacks. For example, a decision based on a revenue change might be wrong because it is not related to outsourcing. Multi-criteria approaches are ineffective due to mutual compensation of deteriorating and improving criteria. The algorithm of decision-making on outsourcing of repair of the equipment and the choice of service providers on the basis of comparison of costs of outsourcing and insourcing is presented.The widespread structure of repair service of the industrial enterprises is considered and its reorganization in the conditions of repair outsourcing application is offered. The criteria and method of their calculation for the possibility of evaluating the effectiveness of repair outsourcing equipment. To assess the effectiveness of the reorganization of the repair service, the ratio of repair time, the number of failures, the number of defects, the repair costs are taken. For the detection of improvement or deterioration in the quality of the repair after the use of outsourcing, you must use the product of these relations.

Investigating the referral of patients with non-urgent conditions to a regional Australian emergency department: a study protocol

BackgroundAustralia’s only island state, Tasmania, experiences one of the nation’s highest incidences of non-urgent emergency department (ED) presentations in a healthcare system regularly faced with service demands that exceed resource availability. Service-demand mismatches are acknowledged to contribute to ED crowding which in turn, has been documented to have a correlation with poorer patient outcomes. Crowding within EDs is complex, non-urgent presentations alone are not the primary cause, but have been reported to be a contributing factor. In 2015–16 Tasmania recorded over 153,000 ED attendances, 55% of these fell into the two least urgent triage categories. Recent research in the State’s North established that 29% of non-urgent presentations were referred, formally or informally, from primary healthcare providers and that, for many patients (39%), the ED was not their first choice of service provider. This study aims to identify the service needs of patients referred to a regional Australian ED and subsequently triaged as non-urgent.MethodIn order to achieve this aim, three objectives have been identified. The first two objectives use an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach while the third objective will incorporate an implementation science approach. These three objectives are: first, a retrospective analysis of seven years of routinely collected hospital data to identify trends in referral of patients with non-urgent conditions; second, focus group interviews with patients and primary care providers to further understand perceived need and service requirements of those referred to the ED, and third, translation of findings into local health service recommendations.DiscussionIdentification of the needs of patients referred to the ED with non-urgent conditions will inform future service planning aiming to facilitate access to the right service at the right time and in the right place.

Does Ownership Matter in the Selection of Service Providers? Evidence From Nursing Home Consumer Surveys

This study considers the role of ownership in consumer choice of service providers in mixed-ownership industries. First, it analyzes theoretically consumer search in the face of severe asymmetric information about important service attributes in a market where nonprofit, for-profit, and local government providers coexist. Second, the article distinguishes between two consumer decision strategies, traditional search for information, and using ownership as a signal of quality. Third, the article analyzes an original data set about nursing homes and their customers (residents and their families). We found that (a) despite empirical evidence showing that nonprofit nursing homes are of higher quality, consumers who use ownership status in their search were more likely to choose for-profit organizations; (b) better educated consumers are more likely to choose nonprofit over for-profit organizations; (c) consumers who search more in-depth and who find information about nursing home lobbies less important for selection are more likely to choose homes that are nonprofit. The choice of local government–owned homes is based on a process that resembles weakly the process used to choose nonprofit homes more than for-profit homes.

Explaining culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) parents\u2019 access of healthcare services for developmental surveillance and anticipatory guidance: qualitative findings from the \u2018Watch Me Grow\u2019 study

BackgroundRegular health visits for parents with young children provide an opportunity for developmental surveillance and anticipatory guidance regarding common childhood problems and help to achieve optimal developmental progress prior to school entry. However, there are few published reports from Australian culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities exploring parents’ experiences for accessing child health surveillance programs. This paper aims to describe and explain parental experiences for accessing developmental surveillance and anticipatory guidance for children.MethodsQualitative data was obtained from 6 focus groups (33 parents) and seven in-depth interviews of CALD parents recruited from an area of relative disadvantage in Sydney. Thematic analysis of data was conducted using an ecological framework.ResultsAn overarching theme of “awareness-beliefs-choices” was found to explain parents’ experiences of accessing primary health care services for children. “Awareness” situated within the meso-and macro-systems explained parents knowledge of where and what primary health services were available to access for their children. Opportunities for families to obtain this information existed at the time of birth in Australian hospitals, but for newly arrived immigrants with young children, community linkages with family and friends, and general practitioner (GPs) were most important. “Beliefs” situated within the microsystems included parents’ understanding of their children’s development, in particular what they considered to be “normal” or “abnormal”. Parental “choices”, situated within meso-systems and chronosystems, related to their choices of service providers, which were based on the proximity, continuity, purpose of visit, language spoken by the provider and past experience of a service.ConclusionsCALD parents have diverse experiences with primary health care providers which are influenced by their awareness of available services in the context of their duration of stay in Australia. The role of the general practitioner, with language concordance, suggests the importance of diversity within the primary care health workforce in this region. There is a need for ongoing cultural competence training of health professionals and provisions need to be made to support frequent use of interpreters at general practices in Australia.

The Status Quo Survey and Countermeasure Analysis of Chinese Netizens’ Needs for E-Mental Health Services

The<strong> </strong>e-Mental Health Service refers to the work for mental health promotion provided, following the laws of mental health, by professional institutions and professionals to netizens through the Internet. A survey of 1588 netizens shows that netizens have a need for e-Mental Health Services and higher needs for mental health knowledge; they show obvious social orientation in their choices of service providers; demographic variables have remarkable influences on netizens’ specific needs; and netizen groups, there are relatively higher needs in female, college degree holders and above, the youth and brain workers, such as students, teachers, company employees, and staff in public institutions. The results of the survey indicate that netizens’ needs for e-Mental Health Services are complex and diversified, and netizens’ understanding and demand for professional service institutions, professional service providers and electronic service modes still need to be improved.