Ruth N. Bolton, Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, Lilliemay Cheung, Andrew Gallan, Chiara Orsingher, Lars Witell and Mohamed Zaki
The purpose of this paper is to explore innovations in customer experience at the intersection of the digital, physical and social realms. It explicitly considers experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore innovations in customer experience at the intersection of the digital, physical and social realms. It explicitly considers experiences involving new technology-enabled services, such as digital twins and automated social presence (i.e. virtual assistants and service robots).
Design/methodology/approach
Future customer experiences are conceptualized within a three-dimensional space – low to high digital density, low to high physical complexity and low to high social presence – yielding eight octants.
Findings
The conceptual framework identifies eight “dualities,” or specific challenges connected with integrating digital, physical and social realms that challenge organizations to create superior customer experiences in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets. The eight dualities are opposing strategic options that organizations must reconcile when co-creating customer experiences under different conditions.
Research limitations/implications
A review of theory demonstrates that little research has been conducted at the intersection of the digital, physical and social realms. Most studies focus on one realm, with occasional reference to another. This paper suggests an agenda for future research and gives examples of fruitful ways to study connections among the three realms rather than in a single realm.
Practical implications
This paper provides guidance for managers in designing and managing customer experiences that the authors believe will need to be addressed by the year 2050.
Social implications
This paper discusses important societal issues, such as individual and societal needs for privacy, security and transparency. It sets out potential avenues for service innovation in these areas.
Originality/value
The conceptual framework integrates knowledge about customer experiences in digital, physical and social realms in a new way, with insights for future service research, managers and public policy makers.
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This paper aims to consider each strategy of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) as a unit in data envelopment analysis (DEA) and uses the minimax mixed-integer linear…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to consider each strategy of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) as a unit in data envelopment analysis (DEA) and uses the minimax mixed-integer linear programming DEA approach to find the most suitable inertia weight strategy. A total of 15 inertia weight strategies were empirically examined in a suite of 42 benchmark problems in the view of DEA.
Design/methodology/approach
PSO is very sensitive to inertia weight strategies, and therefore, an important amount of research attempts has been concentrated on these strategies. There is no research into the determination of the most suitable inertia weight strategy; however, there are a large number of comparisons related to the inertia weight strategies. DEA is one of the performance evaluation methods, and its models classify the set of strategies into two distinct sets as efficient and inefficient. However, only one of the strategies should be used in the PSO algorithm. Some effective models were proposed to find the most efficient strategy.
Findings
The experimental studies demonstrate that an approach is a useful tool in the determination of the most suitable strategy. Besides, if the author encounters a new complex problem whose properties are known, it will help the author to choose the best strategy.
Practical implications
A heavy oil thermal cracking three lumps model for the simplification of the reaction system was used because it is an important complicated chemical process. In addition, the soil water retention curve (SWRC) plays an important role in diverse facets of agricultural engineering. As the SWRC can be regarded as a nonlinear function between the water content and the soil water potential, Van Genuchten model is proposed to describe this function. To determinate these model parameters, an optimization problem is formulated, which minimizes the difference between the measured and modeled data.
Originality/value
In this paper, the PSO algorithm is integrated with minimax mixed-integer linear programming to find the most suitable inertia weight strategy. In this way, the best strategy could be chosen for a new more complex problem.
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Jeanet Nieuwenhuis, Eric Noorthoorn, Peter Lepping, Niels Mulder and Henk Nijman
A recently published study showed a 41% prevalence of mild intellectual disability (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) in a large sample of Dutch psychiatric…
Abstract
Purpose
A recently published study showed a 41% prevalence of mild intellectual disability (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) in a large sample of Dutch psychiatric patients. This study aims to examine if the outcomes of the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) were affected by the severity of psychiatric symptoms during admission.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors administered the SCIL and the Kennedy Axis V (domain psychological impairment) at two moments when patients were sufficiently stabilised and just before discharge.
Findings
A total of 86% of the respondents had the same outcome regardless of the time of administration. The Kennedy score correlated modestly with changes in the SCIL scores, suggesting that the severity of psychiatric symptoms just modestly affected the performance.
Practical implications
Recognising MID/BIF in mental health care is essential but challenging for clinicians. The authors concluded that screening with the SCIL allows clinicians to identify patients with MID/BIF at an early stage of their admission, which helps to individualise treatment and reduce the risk of aggression, coercive measures and prolonged admissions. However, the authors prefer to assess all patients on cognitive impairment as early as possible after referral at a more stable moment in time.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no research concerning screening instruments on MID/BIF used at admission wards in Mental Health Care.
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Justine Brigitte Virlée, Wafa Hammedi and Allard C.R. van Riel
Patients, when using healthcare services, (co)create value by integrating their own resources with those of a range of stakeholders. These resource integration activities…
Abstract
Purpose
Patients, when using healthcare services, (co)create value by integrating their own resources with those of a range of stakeholders. These resource integration activities, however, require different types of skills and effort from the patients, and different types of interactions with stakeholders, while also having different effects on patients' well-being. The purpose of the present study is to develop a better understanding of why some patients are better able or willing to perform resource integration activities that impact their well-being. To reach this objective, barriers and facilitators of these activities in their interactions with various stakeholders were identified.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a multiple case study design. Individual patients having received a lung transplant, together with their entourage (family, medical professionals, other patients) each represent a case. In-depth interviews were conducted with the patients and with various categories of stakeholders in their service delivery network who were relevant to their experience and with whom they integrated their resources.
Findings
The study identifies three levels on which barriers and facilitators of the resource integration process occur: the individual, relational and systemic level. Factors on these levels affect different aspects of the process.
Originality/value
This study takes a systems perspective and investigates how various systemic factors and stakeholders conduce or inhibit healthcare service users to perform resource integration activities, especially focusing on those activities that strongly affect their well-being.
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The most significant event for the School has been the announcement of the creation of the National Centre for Management Research and Development. The Centre is due to open in…
Abstract
The most significant event for the School has been the announcement of the creation of the National Centre for Management Research and Development. The Centre is due to open in 1986 and will provide research facilities for up to 20 major projects designed to improve the competitiveness of Canadian business practices.
Annette McKeown, Aisling Martin, Romana Farooq, Amy Wilson, Chelsea Addy and Patrick J. Kennedy
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate pre- and post-formulation findings with multi-disciplinary staff within two secure children’s homes (SCHs) in the North East of England.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate pre- and post-formulation findings with multi-disciplinary staff within two secure children’s homes (SCHs) in the North East of England.
Design/methodology/approach
Multi-disciplinary staff teams involved in formulation across two SCHs were administered pre- and post-formulation questionnaires. The pre- and post-formulation questionnaires focused on five domains: knowledge; confidence; motivation; understanding; and satisfaction with treatment plan.
Findings
A total of 338 pre- and post-formulation questionnaires were administered across 43 formulation meetings. The highest proportion of formulation attendees were: residential staff (44%); mental health staff (17%); case managers (12%); and education staff (9%). Paired samples t-tests showed significant post-formulation improvements across all domains including: knowledge [t(337) = 22.65, p < 0.001]; confidence [t(337) = 15.12, p < 0.001]; motivation [t(337) = 8.27, p < 0.001]; understanding [t(337) = 19.13, p < 0.001]; and satisfaction [t(337) = 18.81, p < 0.001].
Research limitations/implications
The SECURE STAIRS framework has supported formulation developments across the Children and Young People’s Secure Estate. Preliminary findings within two SCHs suggest multi-disciplinary staff teams find psychologically informed formulation beneficial. Future directions are considered including future evaluation of young person involvement in formulation meetings.
Originality/value
There is a notable lack of existing research within the child and young people secure estate evaluating the impact of SECURE STAIRS trauma-informed care developments including the impact of team formulation. This paper adds to the evidence base.
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Jan F. Klein, Yuchi Zhang, Tomas Falk, Jaakko Aspara and Xueming Luo
In the age of digital media, customers have access to vast digital information sources, within and outside a company's direct control. Yet managers lack a metric to capture…
Abstract
Purpose
In the age of digital media, customers have access to vast digital information sources, within and outside a company's direct control. Yet managers lack a metric to capture customers' cross-media exposure and its ramifications for individual customer journeys. To solve this issue, this article introduces media entropy as a new metric for assessing cross-media exposure on the individual customer level and illustrates its effect on consumers' purchase decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on information and signalling theory, this study proposes the entropy of company-controlled and peer-driven media sources as a measure of cross-media exposure. A probit model analyses individual-level customer journey data across more than 25,000 digital and traditional media touchpoints.
Findings
Cross-media exposure, measured as the entropy of information sources in a customer journey, drives purchase decisions. The positive effect is particularly pronounced for (1) digital (online) versus traditional (offline) media environments, (2) customers who currently do not own the brand and (3) brands that customers perceive as weak.
Practical implications
The proposed metric of cross-media exposure can help managers understand customers' information structures in pre-purchase phases. Assessing the consequences of customers' cross-media exposure is especially relevant for service companies that seek to support customers' information search efforts. Marketing agencies, consultancies and platform providers also need actionable customer journey metrics, particularly in early stages of the journey.
Originality/value
Service managers and marketers can integrate the media entropy metric into their marketing dashboards and use it to steer their investments in different media types. Researchers can include the metric in empirical models to explore customers' omni-channel journeys.
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Md. Nazmul Ahsan and Jean-Marie Dufour
Statistical inference (estimation and testing) for the stochastic volatility (SV) model Taylor (1982, 1986) is challenging, especially likelihood-based methods which are difficult…
Abstract
Statistical inference (estimation and testing) for the stochastic volatility (SV) model Taylor (1982, 1986) is challenging, especially likelihood-based methods which are difficult to apply due to the presence of latent variables. The existing methods are either computationally costly and/or inefficient. In this paper, we propose computationally simple estimators for the SV model, which are at the same time highly efficient. The proposed class of estimators uses a small number of moment equations derived from an ARMA representation associated with the SV model, along with the possibility of using “winsorization” to improve stability and efficiency. We call these ARMA-SV estimators. Closed-form expressions for ARMA-SV estimators are obtained, and no numerical optimization procedure or choice of initial parameter values is required. The asymptotic distributional theory of the proposed estimators is studied. Due to their computational simplicity, the ARMA-SV estimators allow one to make reliable – even exact – simulation-based inference, through the application of Monte Carlo (MC) test or bootstrap methods. We compare them in a simulation experiment with a wide array of alternative estimation methods, in terms of bias, root mean square error and computation time. In addition to confirming the enormous computational advantage of the proposed estimators, the results show that ARMA-SV estimators match (or exceed) alternative estimators in terms of precision, including the widely used Bayesian estimator. The proposed methods are applied to daily observations on the returns for three major stock prices (Coca-Cola, Walmart, Ford) and the S&P Composite Price Index (2000–2017). The results confirm the presence of stochastic volatility with strong persistence.