Service Quality In Supply Chain Research Articles

Supply Chain Service Quality and Customers Satisfaction in Nigerian Airports

The study examined supply chain service quality and customers’ satisfaction in Nigerian Airports: a case study of Calabar Airport. The specific objectives are to examine the relationship between supply chain service quality reliability, service quality responsiveness, service quality tangibility, service quality empathy, service quality assurance and customer satisfaction in Nigerian Airport. Survey design was employed in the study. Data information for this research work was collected from primary sources. The study employed correlation coefficient analysis to measure the degree of relationship between variables tested in the study. The major findings of the study revealed that a significant relationship exists between supply chain service quality reliability, service quality responsiveness, service quality tangibility, service quality empathy, service quality assurance and customer satisfaction. The study recommended that supply chain managers in Nigerian air ports should adopt the dimensions of supply chain service quality discussed in the current article to provide effective customer service that addresses the needs and requirements of customers in Nigerian airports. Management of Nigerian airports should be prudent in monitoring and encouraging the activities that create customer satisfaction.

Investigating the Quality of University Education: A Focus on Supply Chain Management

While the quality of higher education has received attention from researchers globally, its focus has been mainly on universities in ‘developed country’ contexts. There has been limited research on the quality of higher education in African universities, and even less that has focused on the discipline of supply chain management. In this paper, the quality of supply chain education of five universities in Kenya is investigated using a SERVPERF model. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 781 students enrolled for a supply chain management qualification. The data were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis and one-way analysis of variance. The findings are fourfold: (1) the service quality of supply chain education is at medium level in terms of the SERVPERF metrics; (2) four dimensions were identified by students as the most important aspects of service quality: course-centeredness, academic and support staff helpfulness, service excellence and learning facilities; (3) a four-factor SERVPERF model of supply chain service quality is developed and (4) service quality was significantly different across the selected universities. Although the service quality was rated at a medium level overall, the variability in quality across universities should alert educators and management to the need for a coordinated effort to improve particular aspects of students’ learning experiences. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing that SERVPERF is a four-factor model in the higher education sector. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.8.23

Dynamic evolution and coordination mechanism of RSSC under the steady-state quality constraints

Purpose The advent of the new retail era witnessed the consumers’ demand shift from on the traditional product quality to on the full supply chain service quality, and product service and service manufacturing is gradually taking shape. The purpose of this paper is to propose whether there is a “quality bridge” in the dynamic evolution process of retail service supply chain (RSSC) and discuss the system role, steady-state characteristics and dynamic evolution mechanism of service quality in this dynamic evolution process. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes the dissipation system structure of the RSSC under the steady-state quality constraint, constructs a Markov chain model (MCM) for the evolution of the service quality of RSSC, and tests the objective existence of the steady-state distribution of the service quality by taking Chinese HJ retail enterprises as samples. Findings The research value of this study is summarized as follows. The research finds that the evolution of service quality of RSSC is a dynamic and non-linear growth process, which has significant characteristics of complex adaptability and steady-state convergence. The study finds that the quality evolution process of the RSSC is a steady-state convergence process, and there is a steady-state distribution of quality in its co-evolution, in which different process input levels have a significant positive impact on the stable level of quality state. The study finds that the steady state of quality plays a crucial role in the collaborative evolution of the RSSC, that is, when the service quality reaches a certain steady state distribution, the operating efficiency and profit level of the whole chain will show an “explosive” growth trend. Originality/value Quality bridge, an original concept in this paper, represents the role of quality steady-state in the operation of RSSC. Based on Markov chain and system simulation tools, this paper verifies the existence of steady-state service quality and its positive effect on the co-evolution and sustainable development of RSSC. When the service quality reaches a certain steady distribution, the operating efficiency and income level of the whole chain will show n trend of explosive growth.

A Systematic Literature Review on Service Quality: Bibliomertics and Network Analysis

Purpose: This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review to suitably identify wide and specific issues and topics on service quality in supply chain. Methods: This study is to investigate service quality in supply chain research using a systematic literature review methodology. In order to extract influential journals and papers, we used the SJR impact factor provided by the SCOPUS database. The collected 169 papers were analyzed using bibliometric analysis, citation analysis as well as keywords network. Results: We conducted a bibliometric analysis to identify top authors contributing to service quality in supply chain and their issues, and further examined important keywords and new emerging keywords. In addition, we extracted five influential papers by PageRank to clarify critical issues and divided into five clusters to identify topics of service quality in supply chain by using network-based approach. In order to examine comprehensive issues and topics of service quality in supply chain, we constructed a keyword network to observe difference in the classification of important keywords across network centrality measures. Conclusion: Our study reviewed literature on service quality in supply chain and explored the future directions and trends of service quality in supply chain.

Supply Chain Service Quality Improvement by E-marketplace Automation

E-marketplaces have become an essential part of e-commerce. In our research, a decentralized agent-based e-marketplace platform was devised. Although there are significant agent-based supply chain models in the literature, measuring quality performance using agents is still a subject of investigation. In order to improve overall supply chain service quality by allowing companies' agents to evaluate the service quality of their partners through the history of their transactions, this article proposes a service quality agent model. The model is designed using MCDM tools to suit different approaches to supply chain management. Consequently, since more informed procurement decisions are taking place continuously and autonomously at each node of a supply chain, supply chain service quality is being improved along the whole supply chain. At the end, the service quality valuation model of the supply chain is empirically evaluated.

Logistics Service Supply Chain service quality inspection results contract coordination under information asymmetry

Aiming at the two-level service supply chain, which is dominated by logistics service provider (LS) and logistics service Platform operator (LP), it is faced with the problem of uncertain market demand and asymmetric information of logistics capacity service failure rate. Under the income distribution mode of LS and LP income sharing, this thesis uses the Stackelberg game principle to propose a cost-sharing compensation contract based on the result of capacity service quality test to coordinate the supply chain. The results show that the compensation contract of cost allocation can effectively solve the problem of information asymmetry and realize the growth of supply chain income. However, the overall supply chain income has not been maximized due to the inability to achieve the simultaneous coordination of LP’s effort level and capacity supply decision.

Decentralized Agent-based Electronic Marketplace Supply Chain Ecosystem

Electronic marketplaces have become an essential part of the business to business e-commerce. Supply chain concept is fully taking advantage of using the network effects in electronic marketplaces due to augmented added value from each participant. However, highly desirable network effects lead to one company monopoly over the whole marketplace. To prevent this effect, authors are proposing and devising a decentralized agent-based electronic marketplace for supply chain ecosystem. The goal of our research is to improve overall supply chain service quality by allowing companies’ agents to evaluate the service quality of their partners through the history of their transactions. Consequently, since in their procurement activities more informed decisions are being made instantaneously, continuously and autonomously at each node of a supply chain, supply chain service quality is being improved along the whole supply chain.

A fuzzy cognitive mapping model for service supply chains performance

PurposeThe aim of this study is to present a model for service supply chain performance evaluation (SSCPE) based on fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM).Design/methodology/approachDespite the unique nature of services, which distinguishes them from goods, the performance evaluation of service supply chains (SSCs) has still not received adequate attention from researchers or practitioners. With the help of in-depth interviews conducted with insurance industry experts in Iran, the performance measures of SSCs are defined, and the relevance between the performance measures, which are based upon the knowledge of experts in this field, are presented as a fuzzy cognitive map.FindingsBy blocking the aggregate map of experts, a model for SSCPE is developed that discusses performance measures and metrics of strategic, tactical and operational SSC processes, such as service-providing management, service-enabling management, market management, cash-flow management, customer-relationship management, supplier-relationship management, knowledge- and information-flow management and risk management. Indexes of FCM models indicate that the supply chain service quality and strategy blocks have the most importance compared with others.Originality/valueThe paper develops an original SSCPE model that can be used as a basis for SSC improvement and develops an excellence model for SSC.

Measuring service quality in pharmaceutical supply chain – distributor’s perspective

Purpose The aim of this paper is to contribute to the services marketing literature by developing a scale based on Parasuraman’s SERVQUAL scale for the measurement of distributor perceived service quality at the distributor–manufacturer interface of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Design/methodology/approach Based on a literature review and discussions with experts, a questionnaire was designed basing on the widely used service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL). Personal survey was conducted among selected distributors spread over three major cities of the Indian pharmaceutical market. The study used the exploratory factor analysis to identify the critical factors of service quality followed by the confirmatory factor analysis (AMOS 20). Findings A valid scale with four dimensions – (reliability, assurance, responsiveness and communication) and 13 items for measuring the distributor perceived service quality was developed which also satisfied all the reliability and validity tests. The findings of the present study indicate that distributor perceived service quality has an effect on satisfaction. Practical implications The proposed scale is an attempt to explore the less researched area. This study will give further insights to researchers to measure service quality at different phases of the pharmaceutical supply chain. The study is limited to three cities; it can be extended to other regions of the country. This study will be helpful to the practicing managers to measure the service quality and improve the performance in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Social implications Service quality in pharmaceutical supply chain is very important, as it directly effects the health of the people, so the proposed scale can be used to control the quality of service. Originality/value The scale developed in this study can also be used for measuring distributor perceived service quality in other manufacturing sectors. This research provides direction and scope for further research to develop new concepts and models in measuring service quality in the supply chain.

Measurement of service quality of upstream and downstream supply chain

One of the paradigm shifts in business today is that competition between firms is being replaced by competition between supply chains. Customers have started taking service quality as prerequisite criteria in buying decisions. Delivering good service quality to the end customer depends upon the service quality being delivered by every entity involved in supply chain. This paper proposes a model to measure the service quality of supply chain with respect to the focal firm. The service quality delivered by the firms ahead of the focal firm is termed as upstream service quality and the service quality delivered by the firms following the focal firm is termed as downstream service quality. The uniqueness of this paper is that it measures the service quality of the immediate upstream and downstream supply chain partner from focal firms perspective using the same set of constructs and reduces them into factors affecting upstream and downstream service quality.

Assessment of upstream service quality of supply chain

A basic supply chain consists of a focal firm with upstream and downstream business partners. Upstream refers to the suppliers of a focal firm and downstream refers to the immediate customers of focal firm in a supply chain. In this paper attempt has been made to measure the service quality delivered by the upstream supply chain partner from the focal firm's perspective. Six factors of upstream service quality have been identified. It is seen that approachability, personal interaction, competency, credibility, deliverables and communication are important for upstream members to deliver quality to their subsequent business partner. The uniqueness of this research is that the scale may be used to measure the service quality delivered by any upstream supply chain partner with respect to it is subsequent partner.

Empirical Study on the Influence between Logistics Information Capabilities and Supply Chain Performance

In this study, first, the relational model between logistics information capability, distribution capability, flexibility capability and the service quality, the response and the financial performance of supply chain is build. Then the model was examined by structure equation modeling. The result shows that logistics information capability does not have direct impact on the performance of supply chain, but have impact on the service quality of supply chain and financial performance through the influencing distribution capability and flexibility capability. Moreover, through influencing distribution capability, logistics information capability can have strong impact on the response of supply chain.

Study on Supply Chain Oriented Service Quality Evaluation of E-Commerce

Quality has been attracting growing attention after entering the 21st century. The paper studies the service quality of supply chain based on the SERVQUAL model by the adoption of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method in the light of working out the service quality level in the eyes of customers, which may consequently improve the service quality of the supply chain as well as of e-Commerce Website.

Measuring Service Quality of Supply Chain with SERVQUAL

Measuring Service Quality of Supply Chain with SERVQUAL

A SERVQUAL Model for Assessment of Service Quality in Supply Chain

A SERVQUAL Model for Assessment of Service Quality in Supply Chain

Service quality in supply chain: empirical evidence from Indian automotive industry

PurposeThis paper aims to conceptualize the role of service quality in the manufacturing supply chain, present a scale to measure the same, and a model that proposes that internal and external service quality initiatives lead to loyalty and satisfaction of supplier, which in turn are determinants of competitive advantage and organizational performance of the focal organization.Design/methodology/approachThe research design for this paper includes a combination of literature review, exploratory interviews with scholars and practitioners, and a survey of 156 practitioners in three automobile‐manufacturing companies in North India. Structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.FindingsThe paper has developed a scale to measure service quality in the supply chain, and presented a model and set of propositions related to service quality in the supply chain. The model proposes linkages of service quality with loyalty, satisfaction, competitive advantage and organizational performance. The author has empirically tested the model at supplier‐manufacturer dyad and found that the data fit the model.Research limitations/implicationsFuture researchers could validate this scale, and empirically test the proposed model. Insights derived from supplier‐manufacturer dyad may be transferred to other dyads of supply chain such as manufacturer‐distributor, distributor‐retailer, and manufacturer and its own employees.Practical implicationsThis study would be of interest to manufacturing industry practitioners interested in internal and external service quality improvements. This study finds support for strengthening relationships between a focal organization and its suppliers. Service quality‐based business processes can help strengthen business relationships, develop synchronized linkages between supply chain members, and consequently gain competitive advantage.Original/valueThere are few empirical studies that measure service quality in manufacturing industries or the supply chain. The role of internal and external service quality and their linkages with loyalty, satisfaction, competitive advantage and organizational performance has previously not been conceptualized.

A conceptual model for quality of service in the supply chain

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to propose a model for assessing the quality of service at various interfaces of supply chain using third party logistics.Design/methodology/approachBased on a rich combination of extensive literature review and insights gained through exploratory interviews, gap analysis methodology is used in developing the model. This was followed by an in‐depth analysis of gaps at various interfaces in supply chain. Further, both qualitative and quantitative techniques are suggested for data collection and analysis.FindingsThe key gaps in both the directions (forward and reverse) that are likely to affect the service quality at different levels are extensively defined. These gaps may exist between a 3PL service provider and the manufacturer, the marketing function and the 3PL service provider, etc. The paper also proposes frameworks such as data envelopment analysis for measurement of these gaps. A set of possible performance indicators is also proposed at various interfaces in supply chain.Practical implicationsThis proposed model is an attempt to explore the relatively less explored area. It is expected that this research will further motivate researchers to work in this area. This supply chain service quality tool will be beneficial to practising managers in identification of opportunities for improvements in service quality.Originality/valueThis paper explores some critical issues in the less explored area and offers practical help to researchers and practitioners in providing a direction for supply chain service quality improvement.

SSQSC: a tool to measure supplier service quality in supply chain

The objective of this research is to derive supplier service quality dimensions in the context of supply chain. Initial service quality dimensions were derived from an extensive literature review on the subject followed by refining through a series of procedures needed for scale development. Data was collected from 117 working executives of manufacturing organisations in India. The respondents were asked to assess supplier service quality in supply chain based on the perception and expectation scales. Further, data was summarised for respondents stating a high level of external service quality. Factor analysis resulted in a seven-factor structure as representative of supplier service quality in supply chain. The SSQSC tool will be beneficial to practising managers in identification of opportunities for improvements in supplier service quality.