Purchase Of Services Research Articles

Governance in times of war: Public procurement in Ukraine.

Wars increase the importance of government functions, yet they also constrain their ability to fulfill these functions. In particular, wars hinder economic activity, thereby limiting governments' capacity to raise the revenues required to maintain stability and meet the heightened needs of citizens. Effective governance is therefore severely undermined in times of war. However, empirical research on how wars affect government procurement is limited. We address this gap by exploring procurement dynamics using over one million public purchases of goods and services in Ukraine between January 2021 and October 2022, corresponding to the Russian invasion of the country. We document a large fall in the total number of purchases since the invasion and an increase in the share of successfully completed procurements. This higher success rate comes at the cost of efficiency, with the government paying more to source their goods. This can be attributed to the decline in the share of government purchases via online auctions and the reduced competition. Thus, the prioritization of the quick acquisition of goods and services forced governments to sacrifice cost-effectiveness. In summary, the war did not lower the successful purchasing of private goods and services, and transparency was not decreased. However, the trade-off of speed and transparency for greater costs may become increasingly problematic with the growing budget constraints resulting from the war. This article contributes to our understanding of the Ukrainian government choices during the early phase of the war. The results also highlight the importance of ensuring procurement efficiency and transparency when the war ends as reconstruction efforts will require substantial increases in government procurements.

Uticaj metoda unapređenja prodaje na satisfakciju potrošača

Sales promotion activities are generally short-term in nature and aim to encourage short-term purchases of products or services. Through consumer research, companies are able to identify those sales promotion activities that have the strongest impact on consumer satisfaction. Therefore, the subject of the research is the consideration of the relationship between sales promotion methods and the creation of consumer satisfaction. The aim of the research is to determine the effects of sales promotion methods on the creation of consumer satisfaction. Accordingly, an empirical research was conducted using the survey method on a convenient sample of 205 respondents. Descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and moderation regression analysis were applied in the work. The obtained research results identified key methods of sales promotion (discounts, bonus packs, coupons) that significantly affect the creation of consumer satisfaction, which can enable greater investment and focus of the company on certain methods of sales promotion during future operations. In this way, the company can realize numerous benefits through improving its competitive position on the market, minimizing costs and realizing profits. The contribution of this paper is reflected in the testing of the moderating role of loyalty on the relationship between sales promotion methods and consumer satisfaction, because previous researches are more focused on testing main rather than interaction effects.

Exploring tour guide practices in sustainable tourism development

To investigate the behavior of tour guides in sustainable tourism development, the study surveyed 168 tour guides, focusing on 11 selected behaviors (4 economic behaviors, 6 socio-cultural behaviors, and 4 environmental behaviors). Results showed that behaviors such as environmental protection, heritage preservation and compliance with regulations and laws at destinations were highly effective. However, other behaviors such as meeting the needs of tourists for local residents, promoting the purchase of local products and services, as well as receiving and transmitting feedback from tourists to local residents need to be enhanced. Based on these results, the paper provides recommendations to help tour guides promote sustainable development behaviors in the tourism industry.

Exploring the Impact of Remittance Inflows on Investment Patterns: A Case Study of Rupandehi District, Nepal

Remittance inflows have surpassed other sources of foreign currency in many developing countries, with Nepal ranking among the top five recipients relative to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This study examines the impact of remittances on investment in Nepal, particularly in the Rupandehi district. With remittances growing at an annual rate of approximately 20%, they significantly influence the Nepalese economy. A survey involving 404 respondents explored how remittance funds are utilized across various sectors, including land purchases, housing reconstruction, share market investments, small business ventures, and electronic appliance acquisitions. The findings reveal that while there is no significant association between remittance amounts and land purchases or housing reconstruction, a significant link exists between remittance amounts and the types of houses purchased or reconstructed. Additionally, no significant association was found between remittance amounts and business investments or the purchase of electronic appliances and internet services. The study also indicated no significant relationship between migrant education and investments in land, housing, or the share market; however, a strong association was noted between the number of migrants and land purchases. These results suggest that while remittances contribute to various investment avenues, their impact varies across different types of investments. Keywords: remittance, investment, GDP, economic growth, migrants

ПОВЫШЕНИЕ СЕРВИСНОГО ОБСЛУЖИВАНИЯ КЛИЕНТОВ С ПОМОЩЬЮ ПРОГРАММНОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ

In the modern world, the importance of effective information management and the introduction of modern information technologies is becoming increasingly necessary for the successful operation of enterprises. The competent implementation of mobile applications helps to improve the key performance indicators of the enterprise, reduce the material costs of performing certain tasks, increase profits, labor productivity, customer satisfaction and overall efficiency. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the purchase of necessary products and customer service takes a lot of time, and also makes it difficult to keep records. In addition, quality control and the degree of completion of work is often conditional, since store employees do not always manage to serve customers quickly and with maximum efficiency, especially on holidays, when long queues are created due to the hype.

Development of a methodology for the derivation of technical requirements for (cyber-) physical product-service systems in service-oriented business models

Digitalization and Industry 4.0 are catalysts for business model innovation, particularly in machinery and plant engineering. Service-oriented business models (Subscription, pay-per-use, …) have emerged as a promising avenue, fostering sustainable product-service systems (PSS) and nurturing enduring customer relationships. Unlike traditional transactional models, where customers make one-time purchases of products or services, subscription models involve regular payments for access to offerings over time or provide on-demand access to services or resources, often through cloud-based platforms. This offers significant advantages for vendors, allowing for predictable, recurring revenue streams and the ability to tailor offerings better, thus evolving customer needs. Simultaneously, customers benefit from increased flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and access to the latest solutions, creating a win-win scenario for both parties. The transition to "as-a-service" models significantly changes the prerequisites and requirements for the PSS and thus requires a comprehensive reassessment of its core requirements. While various approaches exist for designing PSS within the machine tool industry, none systematically delineates the specific design guidelines required to adapt effectively for service-oriented business models. This paper describes a methodology for the derivation of characteristics of service-oriented business models in the machine tool industry and their implications for the design of (cyber-) physical PSS.

Act of faith versus voluntary reciprocation: Asymmetric commitments in exchange relationships

AbstractFinancial payments take place in a wide variety of contexts. Expanding on a range of alternative forms of payments outside the common purchase of products and services at a price, this present article focuses on one dimension by which payments differ, namely, whether the payments take place in an exchange with mutual versus unilateral commitment between the buyer and the seller. This framework takes into account the timing and nature of commitments buyers and sellers make in an exchange, thereby further revealing the psychology underlying people's decisions to pay. In particular, the party that is unilaterally committed in an exchange relationship engages in “acts of faith”, whereas the party that is uncommitted engages in decisions of “voluntary reciprocation”.

Обґрунтування прийняття рішень з ціноутворення з урахуванням можливостей управління витратами

The aim of the article is to develop proposals for improving approaches to the formation of pricing policy, taking into account the possibilities of cost management under modern economic conditions. The aggravation of various kinds of problems during the wartime in Ukraine is emphasized. Attention is focused on significant inflation rates and constant fluctuations in prices for goods and services, for which the dynamics of the consumer price index in Ukraine over the past decade, i. e. for 2014–2023, was studied. It is concluded that there is a need for new marketing approaches to the formation of prices, adequate to new challenges. In particular, attention is focused on the instruments for supporting decision-making on pricing, which is based on understanding the nature of the behavior of costs of economic entities. The main problems in the formation of prices in the face of new challenges of today have been identified. The imperfection of cost methods of pricing for managerial purposes and the need to classify costs into relevant and irrelevant ones have been proved. It is found out what types of costs have an impact on the justification and support of pricing decisions. Particular importance was given to the concepts of differentiated costs, as well as incurred or «drowned» costs. It is concluded that the latter do not affect the adoption of future managerial decisions and are always irrelevant. An example of determining the real amount of costs when making a decision on independent production of an article or its purchase on the side, which can be a criterion for making important managerial decisions, is considered. It is emphasized that the main factors of price formation, in addition to costs, are the results of market research, which, when pricing, take into account the motivation of consumers to purchase certain goods. It is specified that not all consumers consider the price as a decisive factor when deciding on the purchase of goods or services. It is noted that there are also personified, ethical or apathetic consumers who pay less attention to product prices. It is concluded that, taking into account different categories of consumers, it is expedient for enterprises to determine the appropriate price range, which will allow to set its optimal level and maintain it.

Investigating the customer preference towards Michelin restaurants in Europe through Google Reviews

Michelin-starred restaurants are renowned for their use of premium ingredients, and creatively flavored dishes that are consistently prepared to a high degree. Due to the benefits of sharing previous customers’ open experiences and opinions,online reviewshave grown in importance among future customers as online activities related to the purchase of restaurant services have increased. Online reviews serve as a route for knowledge and help clients perceive risk in a more manageable way. This study contributes to the decision-making processes –an important competitiveness factor of Michelin restaurants–by providing insights into contemporary European customers, who use digital platforms to share their real perceptions of these restaurants’performance across Europe.

ТЕНДЕНЦІЇ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ СТРАТЕГІЧНОЇ СТІЙКОСТІ РИНКУ ЕЛЕКТРОННОЇ КОМЕРЦІЇ В УКРАЇНІ

This research takes a deep look at the resilience concept which plays a vital role in building and ensuring the economic and social renewal of Ukraine during the war and postwar periods by providing considerations of key trends for strategic resilience of the e-commerce market in Ukraine. It is proposed to perceive resilience as an attribute that can be formed, secured, and developed. Resilience also can bring several advantages to enterprises, namely: overcoming and/or recovering from shock, increasing productivity, obtaining options for development, seizing new opportunities, and realizing tangible and intangible advantages. The paper points out the potential of e-commerce technologies to enable small businesses to achieve long-term resilience. The author proposes to define strategic resilience which is proposed to be understood as a dynamic process and result of the enterprise's adaptation to the negative impact due to ensuring functioning, obtaining new development opportunities, acquiring new qualities, and transitioning to a more favorable state of functioning. The development of Ukrainian e-commerce market is promising due to the increase in growth rates and volumes of online purchases, as well as the opportunities to enter foreign markets and offer cross-border online purchases of goods and services. The research allowed identifying the following tendencies of the current development of Ukrainian e-commerce market, in particular: growth of volumes and rates of use of e-commerce as a means of supporting the activities of enterprises; continuous adaptation of e-commerce enterprises to changes in consumer behavior; personalization of goods and services; spread of omnichannel commerce; spread of innovative e-commerce business models; increase of social commerce; dissemination of technological innovations; increasing role of sustainable development and social responsibility of small and medium businesses. However, there are still a number of inhibitors that slow down Ukrainian e-commerce market evolution, particularly: damage and destruction of infrastructure; disruption of logistics chains; insufficient development and monopolization of the payment services market; as well as security and data privacy issues.

An Examination of Uncertain Tax Position Reserves Around the Purchase of Auditor Provided Tax Services

An Examination of Uncertain Tax Position Reserves Around the Purchase of Auditor Provided Tax Services

How to Exploit a Market Niche by Responsivity?

When people purchase goods or services, their experiences can meet, exceed, or fall short of their expectations. This process of convergence creates a diverse market, where some customer's expectations naturally align with the provided quality. The customers whose expectations converge to the quality offered are more likely to remain loyal to the firm in the long run. The customers whose beliefs diverge face a sequence of satisfying and dissatisfying experiences, which makes them likely to resign from using the product. This convergence can be facilitated by the firm's responsivity, which is costly.In this paper, we explore how responsivity can present an opportunity for a new market entrant to attract potentially loyal customers in order to deploy a niche left by a first-mover without causing costly competition. Responsivity acts as a niche marketing strategy, and we find how to use it in the optimal way.

Modelling of Social Influence, Electronic Word-of-Mouth, Previous Experience and Abroad Tour Service Purchase Intentions Among Thai Tourists

Modelling of Social Influence, Electronic Word-of-Mouth, Previous Experience and Abroad Tour Service Purchase Intentions Among Thai Tourists

Factors that Drive Customers towards E-Commerce in Bangladesh: A Perceptional Exploration of Click and Mortar Business

E-commerce has facilitated trade in many effective ways. With the reduction of physical contact, it has brought up to a whole new dimension with innumerable potentials in molding modern day trade. The concept of e-commerce is relatively novel in Bangladesh. A customer would go fore-commerce only when there is benefit inherent in the process. Commonly, benefit is measured in terms of time, cost, accessibility, convenience, value addition and post purchase services. In the study, the customers’ perception regarding click and mortar business showed that e-commerce is better than traditional commerce broadly in terms of time, accessibility and convenience, and psychosomatic features. Specifically, the findings show that, e-commerce saves purchase and trading time; does easy accessibility of sites; makes more savings, supports fast transaction, helps in hassle free shopping; provides necessary information, and demands physical shipping or delivery. But the respondents perceive to suffer from cognitive dissonance (negative feeling after purchase), unsatisfactory post purchase service, and inadequate change/money back for delivered products. The findings suggest further improvement in product design, marketing strategy, and especially, internet infrastructure.

Riview Of Celosia Flower Park : Tourist Perspective

While the motivation for this study is the importance of the number of tourist visits to tourist attractions, tourism managers must understand and be able to explain well how they respond to consumer complaints based on the types of positive or negative tourist complaints on social media. The purpose of this study is to determine the strategic model to be used in developing artificial tourist attractions that have an important role in the tourism business. Intense business competition requires business people to be observant and astute in identifying existing opportunities and the behavior of their target market, the consumers. Since marketing managers, the spearhead of marketing in business, need to understand consumer behavior in purchasing decisions, which is key to increasing the success of marketing products, the study results suggest that a small review of consumer behavior in decision making, paying attention to and understanding consumer behavior on social media, is a good place to start. the importance of paying attention to, understanding, and providing a review of consumer behavior on social media in making decisions about purchase of services and products. This review will serve as a benchmark for tourism destination development strategies.

IMPROVING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH SERVICES THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MOBILE-BASED APPLICATIONS

Advances in information technology have a significant impact on various aspects of life, especially in health services. The development and emergence of Innovations in mobile technology are essential to transform and improve accessibility, efficiency, and quality of health services. This research focuses on Karangampel Community Health Center, despite its comprehensive services and the existence of operational challenges, limited by ineffectiveness in the process of report data collection system to transaction services. The purpose of this research is to develop a mobile application to improve the transaction process of reporting drug purchase data. This can help improve administrative efficiency. By using the observation method and the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as a system design, then testing using black box and Mental Model Representation, resulting in a value of 90%, indicating that the application is feasible to use. Through the implementation of mobile applications, health services can facilitate interaction between patients and health service providers regarding operational activities. In addition, this application also facilitates health service providers in recording patient histories, monitoring schedules, and developing treatment plans electronically, real-time ambulance calls, as well as drug purchase service features, to transactional reporting accessible via mobile.

Factors that Influence the Decision to Purchase Spotify Premium Services

Objective - The aim of the researcher is to determine the factors that influence the decision to purchase Spotify Premium services. Design/Methodology/Approach - Researchers used a quantitative approach, collecting data using questionnaires among 100 respondents who were or had used Spotify premium at Muhammadiyah University Gresik. The analysis technique used was purposive sampling with the help of software, namely SPSS 24. Research Findings - From the results of the researchers' tests, it was found that visual merchandising had a positive but not significant effect, advertising creativity had a positive and significant effect, e-service quality had a positive but not significant effect, and perceived value had a positive and significant effect. Conclusions and Implications - Advertising creativity and perceived value have a significant positive effect on purchasing decisions for Spotify Premium services. Meanwhile, visual merchandising and e-service quality have no effect. So, to increase purchases of premium Spotify services, Spotify can increase advertising creativity and perceived value, especially for the target market of Muhammadiyah Gresik University students.

STAKEHOLDERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON AN AREA AGENCIES ON AGING SERVING URBAN OLDER ADULTS

Abstract Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in urban areas play a critical role in helping older adults maintain and enhance their quality of life. The Detroit Area Agency on Aging (DAAA), recognizing the importance of involving Detroit area seniors and community stakeholders in long-term strategic initiatives, funded a comprehensive needs assessment of the region’s seniors. This study reports findings from an online survey in the winter of 2020, (n=94) aimed at identifying stakeholder views of DAAA programs and services. We used descriptive statistical analyses for closed-ended items and content analysis to identify themes from open-ended questions. Most respondents were either direct service purchase vendors (34.0%) or contractors (22.3%). The highest ranked perceived agency role was information and assistance (mean=2.41; SD=1.02), followed by direct service provision (mean=2.45; SD=1.52), coordination of aging services (mean=2.63; SD=1.54), education (mean=3.40; SD=1.11), and training (mean=4.10; SD=0.99). The most commonly mentioned areas needed for the region to become age-friendly were supportive community services (66.3%), public transportation (44.9%), safety and security (41.6%), available and affordable housing (40.4%), access to healthcare (38.2%), and housing maintenance/modification (24.7%). The most common themes from open-ended responses included outreach, collaboration, and promoting aging in place. These findings suggest the imperative of providing accessible, high-quality services that promote aging in place in urban areas through community outreach and collaboration activities. Detroit area seniors are a vital community resource, and ongoing stakeholder input is needed as part of collaborative efforts to meet their complex emerging health and social needs.

CURRENT ISSUES OF THE PURCHASE OF SOCIAL SERVICES IN INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE

The article reveals issues of social order that are relevant for modern Ukraine. It is emphasized that social ordering contributes to the development of social services. It is designed to improve the quality of such services in the community, create conditions for the activation of the public sector, and promote the effective and joint use of budget funds. The purpose of the article is to analyze the international experience of procurement of social services; description of the features of the modern process of introducing the purchase of social services by local authorities from non-state providers in different countries of the world. Based on the study of the provisions of regulatory and legal sources, the analysis of modern scientific sources of foreign researchers on the research topic, a generalization is made that social services form a general system of protection and inclusion of the European Community. The development of social order has become an effective tool of the market of social services, part of the neoliberal agenda of the countries of Western and Central Eastern Europe, one of the components of the change of the general system of public administration. It was noted that developed countries in the field of social protection followed a common trend of delegating their own powers to provide social services to non-state providers. At the same time, European countries paid attention to their own socio-cultural prerequisites and traditions. In particular, it was important for Germany to apply the principle of subsidiarity, to give greater initiative and authority to local communities to solve their own problems. For Great Britain, the competitive system of selecting a provider of social services in market conditions became a decisive factor. For the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the acquired experience of other countries in combining both of these factors worked. The development of the individual dimension of social order took place in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, France, the Netherlands and other countries.

Digital Consumerism among Nepalese College Students: A Study of Online Shopping Behavior

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce that allows consumers to purchase products or services directly from sellers over the Internet using a web browser. The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship between price, convenience, security, and online shopping behavior of students in Kathmandu. The research adopted the analytical research design. Four hundred students from different colleges in Kathmandu Valley were selected for this study. The convenience sampling method was used while selecting the respondents. The questionnaire survey was developed to collect primary data. The study adopted cross tab, independent t-test, and correlation to analyze the data. Convenience is the most preferable factor when selecting a product in online shopping. Price, convenience, and security are positively correlated with online shopping behavior. As per the result, the price highly correlates with online shopping behavior. Hence, online shopping companies must maintain the product's standard price to meet consumers' expectations. Online shopping companies also consider improving websites with solid security mechanisms for the convenience of online shopping to build up the company's image. Likewise, the firm should consider the preferable factors of online shopping for a better budget allocation for promoting their online business. Future researchers can study the online shopping behavior of the general public with a larger sample size.