Service Delivery Performance Research Articles

The Role of Rural Producer Organizations for Agricultural Service Provision in Fragile States

This paper assesses the role of rural institutions in the speedy recovery and growth of the agriculture and food sector in postconflict setting. This research was conducted to identify strategies and approaches to strengthen local institutions in the agricultural sector of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Using a semi-structured interview approach with 181 rural producer organizations in three provinces of western DRC, this study finds varying types of rural producer organizations in the study areas and shows various internal and external factors affecting these organizations’ capacity to provide and facilitate agricultural services for their members. Greater interactions with other organizations, membership commitment through financial contributions, management capacity, and formal governance structures contribute to explaining these organizations’ performance in agricultural service delivery. Exogenous events were also found to affect organizational performance and service delivery outcomes. Organizations closer to areas with past conflict events face greater risks of conflict re-occurrence and experience limited agricultural and rural development programs, which reduce their ability to provide and facilitate agricultural services to their members. This result implies some evidence of negative relationship of conflict and collective action, in contrast to several studies that show a positive relation.

Emerging HIV-1 drug resistance after roll-out of antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa

This review provides an update of recent data on the development of HIV-1 drug resistance during treatment and its transmission in sub-Saharan Africa after the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Evidence is accumulating of a rising prevalence of transmitted HIV drug resistance (TDR), predominantly associated with nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), in east and southern Africa. Pretherapy resistance is associated with first-line therapy failure. Accumulation of resistance mutations during first-line failure can be prevented by early detection and timely switching to second-line ART. Important gaps in service delivery and programme performance, associated with resistance development, affect a considerable proportion of ART programmes, particularly with respect to inadequate supply systems and patient retention. The reduction in new HIV infections associated with earlier use of ART is predicted to outweigh the risk of increasing TDR. Future levels of TDR are estimated to be diminished by improving switching practices to second-line regimens. TDR is on the rise after the recent scale-up of ART in Africa. To prevent the development and spread of drug resistance and sustain the effectiveness of ART programmes, there is a need to improve drug supply systems, patient retention and access to routine viral load monitoring. Enhanced resistance monitoring is warranted in Africa.

Contracting Out Local Government Services to Private Agents: An Analysis of Contract Design and Service Delivery Performance in Ghana

Contracting out is generally justified on the principle that as governments contract out part of their responsibilities in service provision to private agents, they harness the power of market competition which leads to efficiency in service provision. In working with private contractors, local governments (LGs) face problems related to agent opportunism, while agents also face risks such as dereliction of payment responsibility by LGs for services delivered. The literature shows that these problems are addressed through a web of contractual arrangements. Using agency theory, this study investigates the relationship between contract design and quality of services delivery in three Ghanaian cities (Accra, Kumasi and Tema). The study found a surprising negative correlation between contract document and agents' performance. The paper concludes that effectiveness of contracting out documents depends on contract management capacity of government administrators. In its absence, LGs that contract out are exposed to risks. The paper uses the findings to reflect on the inherent deficiencies in agency theory and Africanist literature on patronage.

HIV drug resistance surveillance in low‐ and middle‐income countries: 2004 to 2010

BackgroundAt the end of 2011, over 8 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), a 26-fold increase from 2003. Some degree of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) will emerge among populations on combination ART even when high levels of adherence are achieved. In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated global HIVDR surveillance to monitor emergence and transmission of HIVDR in countries scaling-up ART.MethodsWHO HIVDR surveillance strategy was designed to inform public health decision-making regarding choice of ART and to identify ART programme factors which could be adjusted to minimize HIVDR emergence. The strategy includes (1) surveillance of transmitted HIVDR (TDR) in recently infected populations, (2) surveillance of acquired HIVDR (ADR) in populations on ART and (3) monitoring of early warning indicators (EWI) of HIVDR which are ART programme factors favouring HIVDR emergence. Surveys used standardized protocols. Epidemiological and sequence data were quality assured.Results TDR: Eighty-two surveys were conducted in 30 countries in 2004 to 2010, assessing 3588 recently infected individuals. Pooled analysis indicates an overall prevalence of 3.1% TDR to at least one drug class, 1.6% to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), 1.3% to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) and 0.7% to protease inhibitor (PI). Levels of NNRTI resistance, particularly in the areas surveyed in Africa, increased over time, reaching 3.4% (95% CI=1.8 to 5.2%) in 2009. Greater ART coverage was associated, though modestly, with increased prevalence of TDR to NNRTI (P-value adjusted for region=0.039). ADR: Thirty-six ADR surveys assessing 6370 people in 12 LMIC were conducted in 2007 to 2010. HIVDR prevalence to any drug among those initiating ART ranged from 4.8% (95% CI=3.8 to 6.0%) in 2007 to 6.8% (95% CI=4.8 to 9.0%) in 2010. Ninety per cent of patients alive and on therapy at 12 months achieved viral load <1000 c/mL. Among people with virological failure, 72% had HIVDR to at least one drug. EWI: EWIs were monitored at 2017 clinics in 50 countries assessing 131,686 people since 2004. Overall, 75% of clinics met the target of 100% of patients receiving appropriate ART; 69% of clinics met the <20% target for lost to follow-up at 12 months; and only 65% of clinics provided a continuous supply of ART during a 12-month period.ConclusionExpansion of ART in LMIC has resulted in an overall increase in HIVDR, particularly to NNRTI in Africa. EWIs reveal important gaps in service delivery and programme performance. While these data call for continued and improved scale up of surveillance, they also suggest that resistance is under control in the areas surveyed, and the majority of patients initiating or switching therapy are likely to respond to currently available first- and second-line therapy.

The Rights-Based Approach to Local Government Development and Service Delivery: Putting Women (back) in the Centre of Attention

A telephone survey of municipalities throughout South Africa undertaken in May 2010 by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) produced a baseline of the status quo with regard to local government responses to gender equality and women's empowerment across six key municipal indicators: capacity, policy, strategies or plans, integrated development plans (IDPs), service delivery and budget implementation plans (SDBIPs) and performance management (PM). The article poses three key questions relating to the findings: Against the backdrop of developmental local government, what is the mandate of local government as far as gender equality and women's empowerment are concerned? Taking into account the survey results, what does a rights-based approach to local government mean? If local government does not, at present, adequately address the gender equality concerns of women as a group, what do we need to do differently to see different results?

The 18th Constitutional Amendment: Glue or Solvent for Nation Building and Citizenship in Pakistan?

The almost unanimous passage of a landmark consensus constitutional amendment—the 18th Constitutional Amendment—restored Pakistan’s constitution to its original intent of a decentralized federation of provinces as envisaged in the 1956 (two provinces) and 1973 (four provinces) constitutions. This article takes a closer look at the provisions of this amendment and highlights both the potentials and pitfalls of the new constitutional order for good governance in Pakistan. It argues that the amendment represents a step forward but encompasses several missteps in creating a harmonious political and economic union. The 18th Amendment has reinforced an outmoded “pot-belly” model (federalism of provinces) whereas an “hourglass” (federalism of local governments) model is more suited to Pakistan‘s circumstances. Major fundamental reforms are needed that right-size the federal and provincial governments, strengthen local governance, enforce fiscal discipline and citizen-based accountability for service delivery performance on all orders of government, dismantle provincial barriers to factor mobility and internal trade, and restrain beggar-thy-neighbor policies and unaccountable governance by “empowered provinces” to mitigate the unintended adverse consequences of the 18th amendment for nation building and citizenship in Pakistan.

Weighted Euclidean distance based approach as a multiple attribute decision making method for plant or facility layout design selection

Article history: Received 25 November 2011 Accepted 11 January 2011 Available online 15 January 2012 In response to increasing inflexible customer demands and to improve the competitive advantage, industrial organizations have to adopt strategies to achieve cost reduction, continual quality improvement, increased customer service and on-time delivery performance. Selection of the most suitable plant or facility layout design for an organization is one among the most important strategic issues to fulfill all these above-mentioned objectives. Nowadays, many industrial organizations have come to realize the importance of proper selection of the plant or facility layout design to survive in the global competitive market. Selecting the proper layout design from a given set of candidate alternatives is a difficult task, as many potential qualitative and quantitative criteria need to be considered. This paper proposes a Euclidean distance based approach (WEDBA) as a multiple attribute decision making method to deal with the complex plant or facility layout design problems of the industrial environment. Three examples are included to illustrate the approach. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved

The moderating effect of service capability on the relationship between service delivery and business performance of manufacturing companies

Little empirical research had testified the role and mechanism of servitization which had been one of the most important sources of competitive advantages of manufacturing companies. This paper aimed to reveal the relationship between manufacturing servitization and business performance. Servitization was figured by service delivery and service capability. 719 samples of 20 countries in 2009 international manufacturing strategy survey (IMSS) were employed to investigate the moderating effect of service capability on the relationship between service delivery and business performance through the hierarchical regression analysis to reveal how servitization influences the business performance. The findings suggested that with better service capability, the manufacturers will improve their business performance by extension of service business; conversely, if the manufacturer is not capable of delivering services, more service offerings will erode the business performance. Key words: Manufacturing companies, servitization, service delivery, service capability, business performance, international manufacturing strategy survey (IMSS).

Adaptive learning in service operations

We propose a decision analytics approach that leverages adaptive learning in the refinement of service operations. We aim to integrate service design and service pricing with downstream operational decision-making related to service provision. This approach involves: collecting consumer data and establishing consumer behavior models; integrating consumer behavior models with models for service operation decision-making; and iteratively evaluating service designs based on service delivery performance that evolves over time due to learning. We discuss how this approach enables service providers to set time-differentiated prices and evaluate the impact on transportation network performance. We use agent-based simulation to illustrate the application of our approach to the operations of a public rail transportation firm in a European urban setting. Our findings suggest that knowing the impacts of consumer responses in service operations is essential for devising cost-effective and value-bearing service designs. Our approach can support service providers who wish to adjust their pricing, consumer demand and capacity management models, and to develop more effective market forecasts of performance through adaptive learning, in the presence of “big data” from consumers and operations.

End-to-end modelling and performance analysis for network virtualisation in the next generation internet

Coordinating heterogeneous networking systems to meet diverse application requirements has become a significant issue in the future internet. Network virtualisation provides a promising approach to solving this problem. Understanding the end-to-end service performance in future internet is a significant opening topic, which requires modelling and analysis on service provisioning in network virtualisation. Network heterogeneity and resource abstraction in network virtualisation bring new challenges on service modelling and analysis. The research presented in this paper addresses these challenges. The main contributions made in this paper include a new model for end-to-end network service delivery systems in network virtualisation environments, and the techniques for analysing end-to-end performance of service delivery in the virtualisation-based internet. The model and techniques developed in this paper are general and independent of network architectures and implementation technologies; therefore can be applied to analyse the performance of various heterogeneous networking systems converged in the next generation internet.

Employees' perspective of organizational service quality orientation

PurposeInternal organizational orientation of service quality and its impact on service delivery performance of the employees have received considerable attention from financial management literature. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by conducting empirical research focusing on the Pakistani Islamic banking industry. It conceptualizes and measures key determinants of internal organizational orientation of service quality from the employees' perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from a sample of 150 employees of pure Islamic banks and conventional banks with IBBs (Islamic Banking Branches or windows) across the entire country. The paper uses principal component factor analysis and regression methods.FindingsStatistical results demonstrate that the employee perceptions of organizational service quality orientation mainly depends upon four main predictors: employees' perception about training and development; development and positioning of Islamic banking products/service concept; customer service orientation; and employees' service quality performance. Principal component factor analysis results indicate four predictive internal organizational service quality orientation factors (ISQF) where 16 per cent of the variation is being explained by employee perception of organizational orientation towards employees' training and development (ISQF1), 13 per cent variation explained employee perception of organizational orientation towards development and positioning of Islamic banking products/service concept (ISQF2), 11 per cent variation explained by employee perception of organizational service quality orientation towards customer service orientation (ISQF3), and 10 per cent variation explained employee perception of organizational service quality orientation towards employees' service quality performance (ISQF4).Originality/valueManagement of Islamic Banks in Pakistan need to be mindful about the fact that ISQFs identified by this study have the potential to indirectly influence customer perceptions through effective employees' recruitment and selection criteria, complemented by training to improve service oriented skills and knowledge development about Sh´ria principles related with the products/services offered by Islamic banks in Pakistan.

ICT's, Service Delivery and Operational Performance in Nigerian Banks: A Survey of Empirical Research

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has become a major&nbsp;tool for gaining competitive advantage in the corporate world and as such it&nbsp;has become integrated into the operations of most high performing&nbsp;organizations. Hence, there has been increased interest to better understand&nbsp;the processes of how ICT diffusion is informing business practices and&nbsp;influencing performance in organizations. This paper examined these issues&nbsp;with specific focus on the Nigerian banking industry. The paper sought to&nbsp;answer the questions of how far are ICTs diffused in the Nigerian Banking&nbsp;sector, what kind of ICTs are adopted and what factors determine this, and in&nbsp;what ways has the adoption of ICTs influenced the operational modes and&nbsp;performance of the firms in the sector. The paper�s methodology is an&nbsp;analytical assessment of about twenty empirical papers published on various&nbsp;aspects of diffusion and adoption of ICT in the Nigerian banking sector. The&nbsp;analysis showed that the Nigerian banking sector has almost entirely&nbsp;embraced the ICT ideology, banks have extensively applied ICT into their&nbsp;operations over the years and this recourse to ICT adoption has in some&nbsp;ways influenced the ways banks carry out their operations. The analysis also&nbsp;revealed that the main factors driving the increased reliance on ICT conformto those in the global literature, and that increased adoption of ICT by banks&nbsp;has positive impacts on their operations and performance.

The Impact of Operations Performance on Customer Loyalty

This research develops a longitudinal study that builds upon previous findings that operations performance of service delivery can positively affect customer satisfaction, further extending this verdict to point out operations performance as a direct determinant of customer loyalty. Path Analysis is used as a methodological framework. This paper reports the findings of an empirical research conducted in a large telecommunications company operating in the UK. Regarding operations performance impact on customer loyalty, the research findings support the conclusion that while operations speed may help to acquire customers, it is the operations dependability that more strongly drives customer loyalty in the long term. [Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]

Return on Interactivity: The Impact of Online Agents on Newcomer Adjustment

Abstract As service offerings grow in both range and complexity, how service providers and their customers interact is becoming increasingly important. In response to the challenge of optimizing these interactions, companies have introduced sophisticated online “socialization agents,” whose purpose is to help new customers more effectively adjust to and function within the service environment. The objective of these online agents, or virtual employees, is to help customers evaluate new or unfamiliar service offerings, as well as help companies achieve greater levels of service delivery and financial performance. To investigate this, the authors analyze the process by which online agents help both new and current customers adjust to and function within new, unfamiliar, or complex service contexts. They examine the impact of an online agent on account performance in the banking industry. They find that both interaction style and content of the online agent significantly influence the newcomer adjustment pro...

Return on Interactivity: The Impact of Online Agents on Newcomer Adjustment

As service offerings grow in both range and complexity, how service providers and their customers interact is becoming increasingly important. In response to the challenge of optimizing these interactions, companies have introduced sophisticated online “socialization agents,” whose purpose is to help new customers more effectively adjust to and function within the service environment. The objective of these online agents, or virtual employees, is to help customers evaluate new or unfamiliar service offerings, as well as help companies achieve greater levels of service delivery and financial performance. To investigate this, the authors analyze the process by which online agents help both new and current customers adjust to and function within new, unfamiliar, or complex service contexts. They examine the impact of an online agent on account performance in the banking industry. They find that both interaction style and content of the online agent significantly influence the newcomer adjustment process over time, which in turn influences firm-level performance.

Efficiency of Urban Water Supply Utilities in India

The two parameters of services output of water utilities are the per capita water available for consumption and the hours for which water is supplied per day. However, water utilities in India differ on the level of these outputs substantially. This paper uses the data for water utilities in 31 cities to analyse their performance in delivery of services. Using data envelopment analysis, a measure of technical efficiency for various utilities is calculated. The results indicate that water utilities can increase the delivery of water on a per capita basis and increase the hours of supply per day by about 18%. Nearly 37% of the increase in services could result from changing the scale of operation. This paper also discusses if the institutional framework within which these utilities operate has implications on their efficiency.

High performance organisation : a quantitative inquiry at a specific metropolitan municipality in the Gauteng province

Since the dawn of the new democracy in South Africa, the media has been fraught with episodes of dissatisfaction among stakeholders about the service delivery record of municipalities. The aim of this study is, therefore, to explore employees’ experiences and perceptions, particularly at the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, regarding the service delivery performance of this municipality. The study was particularly motivated by the apparent lack of a scientifically tested intellectual tool to assist municipalities in improving service provision to residents. A quantitative research design was adopted to ensure uniformity and consistency of the data gathering and analysis processes. To this end, a population of 800 participants was targeted and at least 474 participants responded, thus, registering a response rate of 59%. The main findings of this study was the High Performance Organisational Culture model applicable to local government, whose factors yielded Cronbach Alpha coefficients of between 0.703 and 0.964. The managerial implication of the results of the study is a potential to equip the decision makers in the municipal sector with an empirically tested tool to assist the municipalities to ascend to a high performance status and thus, improve the quality of life of residents. The study is poised to provide a useful framework for policy formulation on high performance in the municipal sector.

Getting the best out of billion-dollar infrastructure assets

What are infrastructure assets (IAs)? How can they best be managed? How can IA policy, strategy, tactics and operational execution ensure best commercial advantage through the entire life of the IA? These questions and others are addressed in this paper. The way leaders direct IAs through their lifecycle is vital for optimising IA performance. This includes managing embedded cost in design and acquisition and applying appropriate business solutions through the productive (beneficial life) phases. In a venture employing capital IAs, the design, engineering, procurement and construction may cost millions of dollars over several years. The production, operational, or beneficial life phase could cost billions in operations, maintenance and renewals over decades. Being mindful of business imperatives, how can IA lifecycles be synergised to promote a seamless transition between phases? How can overall service delivery, safety, efficacy, risk, quality, volume, sustainability, longevity, and cost performance be optimally managed during each phase? Different categories of IAs—fixed and movable—comprise different service lives, lifecycle cost distributions, risks, and physical and functional characteristics; therefore, tailored approaches to optimising performance are required. Understanding the mix of infrastructure assets is important. For example, it is important to understand: dynamic-active-productive-point infrastructure—which usually contains moving components and generally consumes energy and is subject to wear and tear; static-passive-linear infrastructure—which is usually structural in nature and may be buried or submersed; instrumentation-control-automation equipment; and, movable assets. This understanding will guide the development of policy, strategy and tactics to help ensure optimum operational performance of complex IAs.

Modelling and Assessment of the Effectiveness of Government Information Technologies Value Space Approach with a Public Sector Case Study in Turkey

AbstractIn the context of evaluating effectiveness of information systems, the public sector requires a specific approach for measuring indirect benefits such as strategic / political value. There is not yet a holistic approach and no unified adaptive and time‐variant model addressing the problem. A model for assessing both initiatives and ex‐post benefits is needed. In this paper, we describe the Strategic Management Model, developed and partially applied at the Ministry of Finance, Turkey. The model merges public value, strategic goals, service delivery value chain, performance indicators, continuous monitoring and evaluation, and asset management concepts in the Public Financial Management Value Space. This is compliant with Government Finance Statistics, which is the basis for our Public Financial Management Value Space, with dimensions, in which every node and path is defined as an object within this value space. This adaptive model will allow multi‐dimensional assessment, enabling backward traceability, establishing the necessary links between the performance, goals and budget.

The Effect of Service Delivery Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility on Institutional Image and Competitive Advantage and its Implication on Customer Trust (A Survey of Private Hospitals in Solo Raya)

This paper investigates private hospitals performance measured by service delivery, corporate social responsibility, institutional image and competitive advantage with the effect towards customer trust. The data was collected from 420 patients from 21 private hospitals in Solo Raya including Solo city, and 6 regencies: Boyolali, Klaten, Sukoharjo, Wonogiri, Karanganyar, and Sragen. This study indicates that service delivery performance and corporate social responsibility is lesser and lower than patients hope for. Private hospitals in Solo Raya do not yet value image, competitive advantage, and customer trust. Service delivery performance and corporate&lt;br /&gt;social responsibility have positive effects towards institutional image and competitive advantage. Institutional image and competitive advantage have reciprocal effects. The effect of service delivery performance towards customer trust, but corporate social responsibility do not have direct effect towards customer trust. From suggested finding result that private hospital&lt;br /&gt;repairs service delivery performance, physical facilities, also personnel contact performance to increase corporate social responsibility, to increase institutional image and competitive advantage to increase customer trust.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;