Four-dimension Model Research Articles

Hospital service quality measurement models: patients from Asia, Europe, Australia and America

This study explores how service quality in hospitals is perceived and measured among different groups of patients from four major continents (i.e. Asia, Europe, Australia and North America) who came to receive medical services in Thailand. Using stratified random sampling, data were collected from 2189 patients from 80 countries and four continents at six hospitals which provide healthcare services to international patients in Thailand. Four different models of measuring service quality based on different continents were developed with different numbers of quality dimensions and also a variation in the number of quality attributes. Asian patients provided a four-dimension model with 20 items; while a two-dimension model with 16 items was identified for European patients. Australian patients also revealed a two-dimension model but with 22 items, while patients from America provided a three-dimension model, also with 17 items. The study reveals that the development of service quality measurement models should not only consider context-specific items such as size and location, but should also include the nationality and demographic of the patient population. The findings also support that service quality has a significant impact on service satisfaction and the retention level of customers at the hospital. The concluded frameworks may guide healthcare providers to deliver better quality healthcare services and to sustain competitiveness.

Complaint management on the polish financial market – the dimensions of customer evaluation

Justice theory appears to be dominant theoretical framework applied to complaint handling. A three-dimensional view of the concept of justice has evolved over time to include distributive justice (dealing with decision outcomes), procedural justice (dealing with decision-making procedures), and interactional justice (dealing with interpersonal behavior in the enactment of procedures and delivery of outcomes). However, a few recent studies analyze the impact of perceived justice which include informational justice (adequacy and truthfulness of information delivered to a customer) as an independent variable. Also, a lack of consistency, among some of the categories falling within particular justice, can be observed. Perceived justice concept has not been tested yet with regard to concentrated service sectors and business reality of post-communist European countries. As a result this paper aims at verifying the extent to which perceived justice is multidimensional from a perspective of financial institutes? clients in Poland. The research was conducted on the sample of 400 customers. There is a support to use a four-dimension model. There were some new constructs found, which enrich measures of justice, e.g.: providing the client with the possibility of choosing compensation, a single-person complaint handling, the competence of the personnel. The results are interpreted in relation to other research related to this issue and prior own qualitative study.

Toward Developing Authentic Leadership: Team-Based Simulations

Although there is a consensus that authentic leadership should be an essential component in educational leadership, no study to date has ever tried to find whether team-based simulations may promote authentic leadership. The purpose of this study was to identify whether principal trainees can develop authentic leadership through ethical decision making in team-based simulations of cases that they had experienced. Fifty principal trainees volunteered to participate in the study. A four-dimension model of authentic leadership was constructed, which may suggest that leadership programs should include team-based simulations in ethical contexts to develop the authentic leadership of the future.

Counterproductive behaviors

Purpose– The purpose of this paper, building on the work of Aubéet al.(2009, 2011) who developed a four-dimension model of counterproductive behaviors in team settings, is to examine the team-level consequences of these behaviors. More specifically, the authors investigate the mediating role of collaboration, a key component of teamwork, in the counterproductive behaviors–team performance relationships.Design/methodology/approach– Using a multisource approach and a team-level design, data were gathered from 101 work teams (381 members and 101 immediate supervisors). The study was conducted within a Canadian public safety organization.Findings– Results show that the four dimensions of counterproductive behaviors are negatively related to team performance. Moreover, results indicate that each of these relationships is completely mediated by a decrease of collaboration among members. Taken together, the results of this study show that the presence of counterproductive behaviors within teams constitutes a collective phenomenon which affects not only team members, but also the functioning and effectiveness of the team as a whole.Originality/value– This study differs from previous studies mainly by adopting a multidimensional conception of counterproductive behaviors and focusing on consequences of these behaviors on the team as a system. In practical terms, the results suggest that the presence of counterproductive behaviors may require team-level interventions (e.g. team building) in addition to individual interventions with individuals involved.

Do ethical and sustainable practices matter?

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of Maignanet al.’s (1999) four-dimension model of corporate citizenship (based on economic, ethical, legal and discretionary responsibilities) on business performance in the hospitality sector.Design/methodology/approach– This study obtained its empirical evidence from international tourist hotels in Taiwan and applied structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses.Findings– The results show that ethical and sustainable practices of corporate citizenship have positive effects on employee affective organizational commitment, organizational innovation and customer loyalty, while affective organizational commitment, innovation and customer loyalty all have positive effects on business performance. Most important of all, bootstrap estimations based on SEM show that corporate citizenship has indirect positive effects on business performance through the mediating roles of affective organizational commitment, innovation and customer loyalty.Originality/value– While most prior studies were conducted in Western contexts, based on this work’s empirical investigation of international hotels in Taiwan, it is concluded that proactive corporate social responsibility strategies and practices, such as corporate citizenship, can ultimately increase the overall effectiveness of the hospitality industry in a Chinese context.

Consumer-Based Brand Equity: Improving the Measurement - Empirical Evidence

Purpose: The present research aims to improve the measurement of consumer-based brand equity. Current measurement of consumer-based brand equity suffers from limitations, including: a lack of distinction between the dimensions brand awareness and brand associations, the use of non-discriminant indicators in the measurement scales and of student samples. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the recommendations of extant research, the scale constructed to measure consumer-based brand equity in this study included brand personality measures. Brand associations were measured using a different set of items. Unlike many of the previous studies that had used student samples, the present study used a sample of actual consumers from an Australian state capital city. Confirmatory factor analysis employing structural equations modeling was used to measure consumer-based brand equity in two product categories and across six brands. Findings: Results support the hypothesized four-dimension model of consumer-based brand equity across two product categories and six brands. Brand awareness and brand associations were found to be two distinct dimensions of brand equity as conceptualized in the marketing literature. The present study contributes to the understanding of consumer-based brand equity measurement by examining the dimensionality of this construct.

Subjective wellbeing in psychosis: Mediating effects of psychological distress on happiness levels amongst individuals diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia

A correlational study examined the suppositions of Headey and Wearing’s four-dimension model of subjective wellbeing (SWB) and psychological distress amongst people experiencing psychosis. The research objective was to replicate the model with the studied sample and to examine how emotional distress resulting from psychosis affects the individuals’ satisfaction with life and positive affect levels. Forty-seven individuals with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia completed self-report measures of psychoticism, paranoid ideation, depression and anxiety (Brief Symptom Inventory), positive affect (Affect Balance Scale), and life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale). Correlational patterns of the four-dimension model were replicated with individuals experiencing psychosis. Although the levels of depression and anxiety were clearly elevated in comparison with general population norms, the levels of positive affect remained similar to those in the general population, and the average life satisfaction appeared only slightly decreased. Depression was found to act as a dominant mediator between the severity of experiences of psychosis and satisfaction with life. Possible explanations for the findings are proposed and implications from the positive clinical psychology perspective are suggested. Based on the study outcomes it is argued that: (1) psychosis does not equal unhappiness, (2) psychosis does not immobilize adaptive mechanisms of SWB, (3) psychosis does not exempt individuals from positive mood set-points, and (4) psychosis does not indiscriminately lower life satisfaction.

Exploring the dimensions of place: a confirmatory factor analysis of data from three ecoregional sites

Themes of place, situatedness, and locale are increasingly prominent in environmental education literature and practice. Sense-of-place research, which considers how people connect with places and the influence of those connections on engagement with the environment, may have important implications for environmental education. Prior place studies have proposed that people’s place connections have various dimensions. This paper explores four place dimensions, analyzing data from a survey (n = 712) conducted in three ecoregional sites in which we investigated residents’ sense of place. We examine how our data fit a proposed typology of place dimensions – a four-dimension (biophysical, psychological, sociocultural, and political-economic) categorization based on previous conceptions of the dimensions of place. We use structural equation modeling to question whether a 4-factor conceptualization of the dimensions of sense of place is superior to plausible alternatives. In comparing the four-dimension model with alternative models, we find that the four-dimension model is the best fit for these data. Our findings suggest that environmental and place-based education may benefit from an understanding and consideration of this four-dimension conceptualization of place in program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Structure of the role ambiguity framework and validity in the French culture

Objectives The present article provides a summary of four studies undertaken to examine the structure of the role ambiguity framework advanced by Beauchamp, Bray, Eys, and Carron (2002) and its validity in another culture (i.e., French culture). Two forms of the Role Ambiguity Scale ( Beauchamp et al., 2002) were developed into French: a version distinguishing the offensive and defensive contexts; a version without specification of any context. Three competing models of the organization of the role ambiguity dimensions were examined. Method Overall, 1145 male and female athletes completing in different team sports participated in the study. Design Cross-sectional with self-reported questionnaires. Results In the French culture, the results supported a hierarchical organization of role ambiguity with three first-order dimensions loading on a second-order factor. The fourth study examining the predictive validity of the questionnaires revealed that a four-dimension model slightly accounted for more variance in task cohesion than a three-dimension model and enabled a more accurate description of the role ambiguity-task cohesion relationship. Conclusions Theoretical and cultural implications were advanced.

Examining the dimensionality of values for culturally diverse customers in parks and recreation

The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensionality and usefulness of Hofstede's measure of values and Kahle's List of Values (LOV) in the context of parks and recreation. Parks and recreation areas around the world increasingly serve as international visitor attractions and play an important role in the international tourism industry. Since values presumably differ among members of different cultures and purportedly influence people's perceptions and behaviours, studying values among culturally diverse visitors is important if we are to understand their influence on parks and recreation perceptions and behaviour. In 2005–2006, visitors to Pokfulam Country Park near metropolitan Hong Kong were surveyed. Using a purposive on-site convenience sampling approach at sites known to be heavily used by visitors with diverse ethnic backgrounds, a sample of 253 Hong Kong residents, 153 Mainland Chinese Visitors and 233 Westerners (including American, British, Australian, and European) was obtained. Analyses showed that when employed in a park and recreation context, Hofstede's measure of values must be further refined to provide acceptable validity, reliability, and utility. On the other hand, Kahle's List of Values (LOV) was found to be a meaningful and useful measure of values in a park setting. Two dimensions of values, external and internal, were extracted from the original four-dimension model and were compared among groups. Discussion of the findings and research implications are provided.

Bifurcation and locking in an multi-quantum-well laser subjected to external injection

Bifurcation and dynamic stability as well as locking in an external light injection multi-quantum-well (MQW) laser are studied. Different dynamic regimes in locking diagram are analyzed with the injection level and frequency detuning. Bifurcate behavior is numerically simulated via the external injection light intensity, frequency detuning, current, linewidth enhance factor, photon loss rate and carrier loss rate, respectively. And the route to chaos from bifurcation, period-doubling and quasi-period are described by numerical analysis. A perturbation equation of four-dimension model and the bifurcation condition are demonstrated. Dynamic stability of the laser is theoretically and numerically analyzed. The bifurcate expression is theoretically given while the maximum locking frequency domain is given. The variational characteristic of the oscillation frequency in the self-pulse regimes versus the injection and detuning are numerically analyzed to find that the relaxation frequency is reduced with adding the detuning in the smaller detuning or with adding the injection in the smaller injection while the relaxation frequency will be increased with adding the detuning in the larger detuning or with adding the injection in the larger injection. We find also that the chaotic spectra are broadened with adding the detuning or narrowed with adding the injection or the current.

Factor Structure of Scores on the State Version of the Four Dimension Mood Scale

This study examines the factor structure of scores on the Four Dimension Mood Scale (4DMS) developed by Huelsman, Nemanick, and Munz in response to criticisms of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The results showed that the factor structure of 4DMS scores obtained with a sample of U.K. residents assessed for state affect corresponded closely to that obtained by Huelsman et al. with hospital employees in the United States who were assessed for trait affect. The four-factor model provided a reasonably good fit to the scores and fitted better than one-factor or two-factor models, thus favoring a four-dimension model of affect. It was concluded that the 4DMS is appropriate for use in the United Kingdom with comparable samples. The study identified differences in composition of the 4DMS and Thayer's Activation Deactivation Adjective Check List, especially in the Tiredness scale, and areas for further investigation of the 4DMS.

Dimensions and classes of psychosis in a population cohort: a four-class, four-dimension model of schizophrenia and affective psychoses

Classification of psychosis lacks a biological basis and current diagnostic categories may obscure underlying continuities. Data reduction methods of symptom profiles within a population-based cohort of people with a wide range of affective and non-affective psychoses may permit an empirical classification of psychosis. OPCRIT (operational criteria) analysis was performed on 387 adults aged 18-65 years in an attempted ascertainment of all patients with psychosis from a geographical area with a stable population. The data were analysed firstly using principal components analysis with varimax rotation to identify factors, and secondly to establish latent classes. Information relating to key variables known to be of relevance in schizophrenia was coded blind to the establishment of the classes and dimensions. Striking correspondence was obtained between the two methods. The four dimensions emerging were labelled 'depression', 'reality distortion', 'mania' and 'disorganization'. Latent classes identified were 'depression', 'bipolar', 'reality distortion/depression' and 'disorganization'. The latent classes corresponded well with DSM-III-R diagnoses, but also revealed groupings usually obscured by diagnostic boundaries. The latent classes differed on gender ratio, fertility, age of onset and self-harming behaviour, but not on substance misuse or season of birth. Both dimensional and categorical approaches are useful in tapping the latent constructs underlying psychosis. Broad agreement with other similar studies suggests such findings could represent discrete pathological conditions. The four classes described appear meaningful, and suggest that the term non-affective psychosis should be reserved for the disorganization class, which represents only a subgroup of those with schizophrenia.

Development and Initial Validation of the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory

This article describes the development and validation of the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (ACSI). The ACSI is a 30-item measure of the culture-specific coping strategies used by African Americans in stressful situations and is grounded in an African-centered conceptual framework. Findings from a principal components factor analysis conducted with a sample of African American adults (N = 180) supported a four-factor model as best representing the culture-specific coping behaviors of the group. A content review of the factors suggested the following dimensions of coping behaviors: cognitive/emotional debriefing, spiritual-centered coping, collective coping, and ritual-centered coping. Using a separate sample of African Americans (N = 220), the ACSI was subjected to a confirmatory factor analytic procedure to establish whether the four-dimension model of coping adequately fit the data. This procedure indicated that the four-factor oblique model was the best fit. The ACSI also demonstrated adequate internal consistency and concurrent validity. The authors discuss limitations of the study and implications for future research.

Factor structure and clinical validity of competing models of positive symptoms in schizophrenia

Background: The factor structure of four competing models of positive symptoms and their clinical validity was studied in a sample of 253 schizophrenia inpatients. Methods: The following models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis: a one-dimension severity model, a two-dimension model comprising a psychosis factor and a disorganization factor, a four-dimension model based on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) structure in subscales, and a five-dimension model derived from the previous one by further differentiating Schneiderian delusions from non-Schneiderian ones. Results: More complex multifactorial models fit the data better than simpler models. The five-dimension model was the best adjusted (goodness of fit index = .844, nonnormed fit index = .812, normed fit index = .728). Whereas the one-dimension model did not display significant association with the clinical variables, multidimensional models were related to age at onset and illness severity. The two-dimension model captured well the clinical correlates of the more complex models. Conclusions: None of the tested models showed good fit to the data. The one-dimension model displayed both poor factor validity and poor external validity; therefore, research relying on the SAPS total score may reach misleading conclusions.

Relationships between social competence, psychopathology and work performance and their predictive value for vocational rehabilitation of schizophrenic outpatients

Earlier studies suggest that social competence has a higher predictive value for vocational outcome than psychopathology. These studies, however, show methodological shortcomings, including the fact that the instruments used for assessing social competence, psychopathology and work performance are strongly interrelated. The present study, involving a population of 34 chronically schizophrenic outpatients enrolled in a vocational rehabilitation program, was conducted in order to determine: (1) how closely the Role Play Test, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Work Behavior Assessment Scale are related to each other; and (2) whether social competence is a better predictor of work performance and outcome of vocational rehabilitation than psychopathology. Factor analysis has revealed that the instruments are interrelated, mainly in the dimensions of negative symptoms, social relationships, non-verbal measures of social competence and conceptual disorganization. In backward regression analyses, psychopathological indicators proved to be the best predictors of work performance both cross-sectionally as well as in the longterm course. In the traditional two-syndrome model of schizophrenic psychopathology only negative symptoms were left in the regression model. In a four-dimension model the disorder of relating and the conceptual disorganization dimension were the best predictors. Differences between disorder of relating and social competence, assessed by the Role Play Test, are discussed here as well as the implications of this study for rehabilitation.

Measuring customer service quality in sports and leisure centres

Based on the notion that quality management embraces efficiency and effectiveness, the Centre for Environmental and Recreation Management (CERM) has developed prototypes for performance indicators of efficiency and effectiveness that can be applied to sports and leisure centre management. Effectiveness indicators based on the principles of customer service quality (CSQ) measure customers' expectations compared to their perceptions of the centre's actual performance. The CERM has focused on leisure industry sectors, particularly public sports and leisure centres. This paper reports on the dimensions of customer satisfaction and the application of the CERMCSQ questionnaire to leisure centre management. Data are throughout Australia that trialed the CERMCSQ questionnaire during 1994. Conclusions are drawn from this data that indicate a four-dimension model may be appropriate for Australian sports and leisure centres. This model differs from an earlier one which proposed five CSQ dimensions based on applied research of service industry sectors such as financial institutions in North America. presented from 15 leisure centres

An exploration of theoretical and practical foundations for assessing attitudes toward computers: The Computer Attitude Measure (CAM)

Over the past 10 years, researchers have assessed over 15 different constructs with respect to computer attitudes, making it difficult to interpret and compare studies using these attitude measures. An absence of theoretical justification for many constructs further complicates interpretation. In this study, four theoretically distinct constructs (cognitive, affective, behavioral, and perceived control), based on over 45 years of general attitude scale development, are examined in the form of the Computer Attitude Measure (CAM). This measure, consisting of 50 items, was administered to 647 preservice teachers to assess cognitive (student, personal, general), affective, behavioral (classroom and home), and perceived control components of computer attitudes. The internal reliability coefficient for the full measure was .95. The alpha coefficients for each attitude subscale ranged from .70 to .97. The principal components factor analysis supported the a priori assumption that the four attitude dimensions and their subscales were structurally independent. Significant positive correlations (p < .001) among all attitude subscales and computer awareness, software skill, and programming provided support for the construct validity of the CAM. Strong theoretical foundations coupled with the promising statistical results of this study suggest that the four-dimension model may be one way to reorganize and assess the multitude of constructs already identified by computer attitude researchers.