Negative Critical Incidents Research Articles

Wearable discontinuance: Pathways in the volitional information systems discontinuance process

This paper examines the role of contextual factors and negative critical incidents as drivers of wearable discontinuance. We adopt a process perspective to understand wearable discontinuance by collecting data from long-time wearable users who have permanently discontinued their use and have no intention of reusing them. We adopt a multistage research design and collect data through the critical incident technique. Inductive data analysis reveals that both critical incidents and contextual factors impact wearable discontinuance, and the former is tethered to the purpose of wearable use. The study proposes pathways in the volitional information systems discontinuance process model and offers theoretical and practical contributions.

Critical experiences with sport and wellness technology digital coach – differences between young adults and young elderly

ABSTRACT Both young adults and young elderly people have been found to be at a high risk of disengagement with physical activity. This makes both groups important targets for health and exercise promotion. Since sport and wellness technology has become popular among regular exercisers, it is worth studying how personal wellness devices could help both target groups in becoming more physically active. This study explores critical experiences during the implementation phase of a sport and wellness technology digital coach among young adults and young elderly. This qualitative study is based on a thematic analysis of 60 participants’ interviews conducted with the critical incident technique. The study reveals the experiences the users consider crucial during the initial phases of usage of sport and wellness technology digital coaching devices. The results show that positive critical incidents among young adults and young elderly are similar when learning about personal health and exercising. However, the role of supportive communication seems to be more important with the young elderly people. Functionality and usability issues play a big role in negative critical incidents. The findings highlight the importance of these critical experiences to the overall usage experience and their influence on users’ motivation to improve their fitness.

An Exploration of Critical Incidents Impacting Female Students’ Attitude Towards STEM Subjects

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects are extremely important to any nation's economy. For society to flourish sustainably there should be equal involvement of men and women in these professions. Even though the number of women in STEM areas has increased over the past several decades, there is still a sizable underrepresentation of women overall and in key positions. In the winter term 2020/21, among all the 1,090,804 students in STEM subjects at German universities, only 347,197 were female students (31,8%) (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2022). According to research by Corbett and Hill (2015), the following factors limit girls and women from majoring, for example, in computer science: Cultural prejudices, gender biases, and microinequities (subtle discriminatory actions) all contribute to a lack of sense of belonging in these sectors.
 Overall, this study aims to better understand the key situations that affect girls' and young women's decision for or against a career in STEM. In particular, the research is interested in finding out about subtle or obvious discriminatory but also facilitating actions which influence attitude towards STEM subjects. An online questionnaire was distributed to a student panel via a market research institute, which was answered by 777 German female students aged 16-20 years in May 2022. The questionnaire collected female students’ memorable positive and negative critical incidents which had an impact on their attitude towards STEM subjects. On the one hand, female students reported a learning environment in school leading to fear, frustration or anxiety which result into them questioning their math or science competence. On the other hand, female students also reported very positive, memorable experiences and appraisal situations in and offsite the classroom which increase their positive attitude about STEM subjects and might lead to a future career choice in a STEM subject. The authors hope to spark a conversation about how institutions might better tailor their offers to a female audience.

Perceived Service Quality Attributes in Public Transport: Inferences from Complaints and Negative Critical Incidents

A sample of 200 complaints filed to a public transport company and 210 negative critical incidents (NCIs) obtained from on-board interviews were analyzed with the purpose of inferring perceived service quality (PSQ) attributes of public transport. The most frequent complaints and NCIs concerned employee behavior and punctuality, followed by missing or inaccurate information and inadequate planning. In a follow-up mail survey, a representative sample of 997 respondents reported if they remembered having experienced prototypical NCIs constructed on the basis of the complaints. Confirming the validity of the inferred PSQ attributes, all NCIs were reported to have been experienced by at least some respondents. NCIs related to employee behavior were, however, less frequently remembered, whereas those related to vehicle design and space, punctuality, and traffic planning were more frequently remembered. Taken together, the results suggest that PSQ attributes in public transport refer to employee behavior, reliability, and simplicity. Finally, inferences made from customer complaints and negative critical incidents are shown to extend our knowledge of perceived service quality attributes in public transport.

Implementing Quality Improvements in Public Transport

This study addresses two questions: (1) What effect does quality improvement have on satisfaction with public transport services? (2) What effect does quality improvement have on passengers’ perceived frequency of negative critical incidents? A representative sample was used of people 76 to 75 years old in the 13 regions in Sweden that were conducting quality improvements in public transport. Data were collected before and after implementation (n=2797). before and after samples consisted of independent groups of respondents. The response rate was 54 percent. The main conclusion of the study is that the satisfaction people experience when using public transport services is influenced by quality improvements only to a limited extent. Furthermore, the effect was directionally opposite in that respondents reported less satisfaction and higher frequencies of negative critical incidents after the quality improvements had been implemented.

What is in a student-faculty relationship? A template analysis of students’ positive and negative critical incidents with faculty and staff in higher education

Supportive relationships between students and their educational faculty and staff can foster positive outcomes such as students’ involvement and development. However, research investigating how students perceive the quality of their relationships with educational faculty/staff (i.e., relationship quality) so far remains scarce. This study’s aim was to gain more insight into the construct of relationship quality in higher education using a qualitative approach. Students’ descriptions of their positive (n = 294) and negative relationship experiences (n = 395) were collected using a critical incident technique (final sample N = 513 critical incidents) followed by a template analysis with a priori themes (i.e., relationship quality dimensions: trust in honesty, trust in benevolence, satisfaction, affective commitment, affective conflict). Results indicated that students most often mentioned trust in honesty and trust in benevolence. Affective conflict was not always explicitly mentioned in negative experiences, nor satisfaction in positive experiences. Descriptions of trust in benevolence (n = 355) were equally distributed over positive and negative incidents. However, trust in honesty was more often referred to in negative (n = 145) than in positive incidents (n = 51). The results indicated that students considered timely response to assignments and emails important, and teachers showing interest and attention. The study’s findings provide a new view of how students might positively and negatively perceive the quality of their relationship with educational faculty and staff. This study adds to the theoretical and practical implications of relationship quality research in higher education and how relational aspects are important for students.

Negative customer engagement in emerging markets: cognitive dimension

ABSTRACT Defined as a customer’s unfavourable thoughts, emotions and behaviours towards a brand/firm, negative customer engagement is viewed as a complex construct, particularly its cognitive dimension. This study advances understanding of negative customer engagement through cognitive expression of customers in an emerging market. Critical Incident Technique method was employed to examine negative critical service incidents of 335 Vietnamese customers and identify their cognitive responses to these incidents. The findings reveal a range of unfavourable thoughts engaged in by customers towards the offending service provider, including a sense of injustice, incompetence, irresponsibility, distrust and cynicism. These sub-dimensions do not occur in isolation, but rather interact within a complex system. This is the first study to empirically examine the cognitive dimension of negative customer engagement based on negative critical service incidents experienced by customers in an emerging market and in a commercial service context. Negative customer engagement has adverse effects on customer well-being that may indirectly lead to an unhealthy society and a weak economy. Understanding the underlying cognitive triggers of negative customer engagement will enable managers to design service recovery strategies aimed at preventing or minimising negative customer engagement, especially for firms operating in emerging markets.

Critical Incidents: Exploring EFL Prospective Teachers’ Teaching Experiences

<p style="text-align:justify">Investigating critical incidents is one way to assist prospective teachers in expressing any developmental stage when accomplishing the teaching practice program. It is a significant component of reflective teaching in an educational framework related to continuing professional development (CPD), particularly self-directed learning. This study aims at exploring EFL prospective teachers’ field experience in cultivating their teaching competence through a critical incident analysis. A qualitative approach was applied. Three participants with different levels of English proficiency took part in this study by sharing their experiences through participating in and answering an interview and an opinionnaire. To analyze the data from the instruments, this study used descriptive analysis and coding techniques respectively. Results indicate that both negative and positive critical incidents contribute to the participants’ teaching development. The incidents support the learning process towards becoming a teacher and assist shaping their awareness of teacher identity. Further, the result of this study reveals that English proficiency level seems to take part in the strategy used for identifying critical incidents. This study implies that critical incidents provide a chance for prospective teachers to be more reflective. Thus, teacher education program stakeholders need to support critical incident analysis by giving relevant assignments while they are doing teaching practice, which in turn builds professional development in the context of prospective teachers.</p>

Critical incidents as perceived by rapid response teams in emergency services.

To analyze two hospital emergency services, one in a public institution and another in a philanthropic one, from the perspective of rapid response team professionals in the face of positive and negative critical incidents. Descriptive, exploratory, qualitative study carried with 62 health professionals. Critical Incident Technique was employed as the theoretical-methodological framework, along with Content Analysis for analyzing data. Sixty-two health professionals - including 23 nurses, 20 physiotherapists and 19 doctors - took part in this study. Clusters for 89 critical incidents were obtained; 66 of them were considered positive, whereas 23 were negative. The situations associated to the provided services were discriminated in three categories: recognition of patient clinical deterioration; rapid response team activation in the unit; and time until rapid response team arrival at the ward. In spite of the difficulties faced by such professionals while providing care to patients who become severely ill in non-critical wards, positive reports were predominant in all categories, what legitimized this service's importance as a contribution to quality and safety of hospitalized patients.

Critical incidents connected to nurses’ leadership in Intensive Care Units

The goal of this study is to analyze nurses' leadership in intensive care units at hospitals in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the face of positive and negative critical incidents. Exploratory, descriptive study, conducted with 24 nurses by using the Critical Incident Technique as a methodological benchmark. Results were grouped into 61 critical incidents distributed into categories. Researchers came to the conclusion that leadership-related situations interfere with IC nurses' behaviors. Among these situations they found: difficulty in the communication process; conflicts in the daily exercise of nurses' activities; people management; and the setting of high quality care targets. Researchers identified a mixed leadership model, leading them to the conclusion that nurses' knowledge and practice of contemporary leadership theories/styles are crucial because they facilitate the communication process, focusing on behavioral aspects and beliefs, in addition to valuing flexibility. This positively impacts the organization's results. Analisar a liderança do enfermeiro em Centros de Terapia Intensiva de hospitais localizados no interior do estado de São Paulo, diante de incidentes críticos positivos e negativos. Estudo exploratório, descritivo, realizado com 24 enfermeiros, que utilizou a Técnica do Incidente Crítico como referencial metodológico. Os resultados foram agrupados em 61 incidentes críticos distribuídos em categorias. Identificou-se que situações relacionadas à liderança interferem no comportamento do enfermeiro de Terapia Intensiva, dentre elas: dificuldade no processo de comunicação, conflitos existentes no dia a dia do exercício profissional, gerenciamento de pessoas e estabelecimento de metas para o alcance da assistência qualificada. Encontrou-se um modelo misto de liderança, o que permite concluir que o conhecimento e a prática dos enfermeiros acerca de teorias/estilos contemporâneos de liderança tornam-se fundamentais, pois facilitam o processo de comunicação, focando nos aspectos comportamentais e crenças, e valorizam a flexibilidade, impactando positivamente os resultados da organização.

Effect of Chronic Diseases on Work Productivity

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic disease(s) on work productivity. Using the Health & Work Performance Questionnaire, information was collected from 516 workers on chronic disease status and work productivity. Propensity-score matching was performed to identify matched-pairs of workers. In the propensity-score matched sample, workers with chronic diseases were more likely to have increased absenteeism and presenteeism rates, 6.34 and 2.36 times the rates if no chronic diseases, respectively. In addition, they had greater odds for getting negative critical work incidents and less odds for positive incidents than none or balanced status. Multimorbidity showed more significant increase in absenteeism and presenteeism rates, as well as increased odds for excess negative critical work incidents. Chronic disease(s) can significantly reduce work productivity by increasing absenteeism, presenteeism, and net negative critical incidents.

Transvaginal sonography: Sonographer reflections on patient experience using a critical incident technique

Introduction It is important to understand patient experiences of transvaginal sonography (TVS) due to its intimate nature and potential for patient discomfort. This may place the sonographer at increased risk of complaints and litigation due to misunderstandings and unfulfilled patient expectations. Methods The critical incident technique was used to elicit the personal experiences of sonographers performing TVS to provide perspectives of sonographer practices and their perceptions of patient experiences. Nine sonographers were asked to recall up to two positive and two negative critical incidents relating to the procedure and patient interaction during TVS. Data were analysed using staged thematic analysis. Results Nine distinct themes emerged from the analysis; patient comfort, chaperones and companions, sonographer gender, patient privacy, language and culture, communication, patient empowerment, sonographer advocacy for the patient, and previous experiences or preconceptions. Each theme was reported in context of current relevant Australian guidelines. Discussion Guidelines are helpful to guide the practice of TVS but do not comprehensively cover all issues raised by the sonographer participants in their goal to effect positive experiences for their patients. Sonographers can be further supported through education and review of existing local department procedures that relate to the practice of shared decision making, cultural competence, and anxiety reducing strategies.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times: The Effects of Critical Incidents on Cruise Passengers' Experiences

As competition in the travel industry continues to expand, it is important to focus efforts on understanding what leads to customer satisfaction, repurchase intentions, and positive word of mouth (WOM) with the purpose of gaining customer loyalty. Previous research has revealed that travel experiences can be influenced, for better or worse, by one single incident. These critical incidents have been coined "moments of truth." Findings revealed that, although respondents provided both positive and negative critical cruise experiences, only negative incidents were found to have a substantial effect on cruise passengers' perceived value, satisfaction, WOM, and repurchase intentions. In addition, the findings align with the premise of prospect theory, which suggests negative critical incidents (losses) are the most impactful incidents on visitor retention. Managerial implications are offered as suggestions for curtailing the effects of negative incidents and enhancing the effects of positive experiences.

A critical incident approach to consumer response in the smartphone market: product, service and contents

Multitudes of theory-based models have been developed and applied to identify drivers behind user behaviors in various information systems (IS) markets. Although these theory-based models have been successful in identifying and explaining consumer behavior, their fixed nature necessitates customization efforts when applied to a specific usage context. In this paper, we utilized critical incident technique (CIT) as a complementary approach to IS user behavior study to traditional theory-based models in the context of the smartphone market. Through a two-stage survey, both positive and negative critical incidents are collected, which are categorized into device, device-related services, network services and content services. Then, their impacts on user intention variables of loyalty and recommendation are derived by a structural equation analysis of 795 smartphone users’ responses. The results can be summarized as follows: Positive critical incidents improve user intentions whereas negative ones worsen them; among the positive incidents, the events related to network services are the most influential; Critical incidents related to application contents are the most influential among the negative; Mobile device manufacturers are the most strongly affected by critical incidents among the smartphone supply chain parties. Merits of CIT in IS user behavior study have been demonstrated: CIT’s flexible nature provides convenience in adapting to a particular IS usage context; Both positive and negative incidents are examined, yielding a complementary implication to other methods. We also revealed that a conventional wisdom of CIT to focus mainly on negative critical incidents might have to be adjusted since positive ones might be more influential depending on the particular context of IS usage.

Effect of cross-functional integration between operations and marketing on negative critical incidents

Negative critical incidents (NCIs) stemming from dissatisfaction with product or services bring the relationship between the firm and its customer into focus. It should be in the benefit of the firm to manage the number of NCIs. We investigate specific triggers of NCIs and study the role of marketing–operations interface in minimising their frequency. The discussion presented in the article is based on theoretical analysis and exploratory empirical research. It was found that firms that are part of industry where new products/services are introduced more frequently are expected to experience more frequent NCIs. A strong intra-organisational interface between marketing and operations functions has a moderating effect on this adverse relationship. One counter-intuitive insight obtained was that the complexity of processes delivering product/service may not be a cause of NCIs, but the reverse can be true in some cases. The sample investigated had representation from service and manufacturing sectors as well as important industries within them. The results, however, could be specific to India. The moderating role of cross-functional integration between marketing and operations in reducing NCIs is also investigated for the first time.

Travel behaviour change in old age: the role of critical incidents in public transport.

Older people’s travel behaviour is affected by negative or positive critical incidents in the public transport environment. With the objective of identifying such incidents during whole trips and examining how travel behaviour had changed, we have conducted in-depth interviews with 30 participants aged 65–91 years in the County of Stockholm, Sweden. Out of 469 incidents identified, 77 were reported to have resulted in travel behaviour change, 67 of them in a negative way. Most critical incidents were encountered in the physical environment on-board vehicles and at stations/stops as well as in pricing/ticketing. The findings show that more personal assistance, better driving behaviour, and swift maintenance of elevators and escalators are key facilitators that would improve predictability in travelling and enhance vulnerable older travellers’ feeling of security. The results demonstrate the benefit of involving different groups of end users in future planning and design, such that transport systems would meet the various needs of its end users.

Russian public transport system: the customers’ feedback on the service provision

A considerable demand on gaining an inside knowledge on customers’ perceptions of the service quality and subsequent complaint behavior in case of failure has defined the aim of this research paper. In this paper we analyse the pattern of customer complaint behavior in a widely used and widespread type of service—public transportation. Given the fact that the city of Kaliningrad is about to undergo a series of extensive qualitative improvements, driven by the federal investments allocated for major sporting and cultural events, this empirical research will have a considerable practical value. Research results suggest that customers tend to set the quality bar for the public transportation based on the personal best service performance experienced, generally received in large touristic centres and capital cities in Europe, hence inadvertently placing the provincial city of Kaliningrad at a disadvantage. There are three types of causes for the negative critical incidents identified, largely affecting the subsequent reaction of a dissatisfied customer. The passenger’s intention to engage in complaint behavior is greatly influenced by the amount of effort required, the costs associated with filing a complaint, and a perceived probability of ‘success’. Though, a considerable discrepancy is found between the probable reaction of a respondent and the actual steps taken in case of a real incident. A negative word-of-mouth remains one of the widely used modes of complaint behavior, whereas employees resist customers’ complaints, since complaints are perceived as personal insult.

The Hidden “Who” in Leadership Education: Conceptualizing Leadership Educator Professional Identity Development

A great deal of literature exists for leadership educators related to programs design, delivery, and student learning. However, little is known about leadership educators, who have largely been left out of contemporary leadership education research. We looked to teaching and teacher education literature to derive a model for leadership educator professional identity development. The four spaces of identity development are exploration, experimentation, validation, and confirmation. We propose that an individual can move forward and backwards through the model as a result of both ongoing influences and positive or negative critical incidents. We discuss implications for professional development and future research.

User behaviours after critical mobile application incidents: the relationship with situational context

AbstractUsers occasionally have critical incidents with information systems (IS). A critical IS incident is an IS product or service experience that a user considers to be unusually positive or negative. Critical IS incidents are highly influential in terms of users' overall perceptions and customer relationships; thus, they are crucial for IS product and service providers. Therefore, it is important to study user behaviours after such incidents. Within IS, the relationships between the situational context and user behaviours after critical incidents have not been addressed at all. Prior studies on general mobile use as a related research area have recognized the influence of the situational context, but they have not covered the relationships between specific situational characteristics and different types of user behaviours. To address this gap, we examine 605 critical mobile incidents that were collected from actual mobile application users. Based on our results, we extend current theoretical knowledge by uncovering and explaining the relationships between specific situational characteristics (interaction state, place, sociality and application type) and user behaviours (use continuance, word‐of‐mouth and complaints). We have found, for example, that users are less likely to engage in negative behaviours after negative incidents that take place outdoors or in vehicles than after indoor incidents. This is because users often consider indoor environments to be familiar and treat them with established expectations and low uncertainty: users are accustomed to the notion that the applications function indoors just like before. Further, we present practical implications for mobile application providers by suggesting to them which positive critical incidents are the most beneficial to promote and which negative critical incidents are the most crucial to avoid.

Predicting Asian undergraduates’ intention to continue using social network services from negative perspectives

With the maturity of the social network service (SNS) market, the increasing sophistication of its customer or user base, and the growing intensity of competition, SNS success has now become a pressing issue. Understanding the antecedents of continuance intention is the first step to assure the success of an SNS. This study proposed a model to examine the key drivers of users’ intention to continue using SNSs from negative standpoints. The developed research model was empirically validated using the responses from a field survey of 236 Asian undergraduates. The results revealed that normative pressure and fatigue are the main determinants of the users’ intention to continue using SNSs. Moreover, the findings showed that satisfaction is a major determinant of fatigue, whereas negative critical incidents are crucial predictors of satisfaction. The negative critical incidents experienced when undergraduates use services include rumour dissemination, advertising interference, and low ease of use. The implications of the present findings for research and managerial practice were analysed and discussed.