Henry Lau, C.K.M. Lee, Dilupa Nakandala and Paul Shum
The purpose of this paper is to propose an outcome-based process optimization model which can be deployed in companies to enhance their business operations, strengthening their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an outcome-based process optimization model which can be deployed in companies to enhance their business operations, strengthening their competitiveness in the current industrial environment. To validate the approach, a case example has been included to assess the practicality and validity of this approach to be applied in actual environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This model embraces two approaches including: fuzzy logic for mimicking the human thinking and decision making mechanism; and data mining association rules approach for optimizing the analyzed knowledge for future decision-making as well as providing a mechanism to apply the obtained knowledge to support the improvement of different types of processes.
Findings
The new methodology of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated in a case study and the algorithm shows its potential to determine the primary factors that have a great effect upon the final result of the entire operation comprising a number of processes. In this case example, relevant process parameters have been identified as the important factors causing significant impact on the result of final outcome.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed methodology requires the dependence on human knowledge and personal experience to determine the various fuzzy regions of the processes. This can be fairly subjective and even biased. As such, it is advisable that the development of artificial intelligence techniques to support automatic machine learning to derive the fuzzy sets should be promoted to provide more reliable results.
Originality/value
Recent study on the relevant topics indicates that an intelligent process optimization approach, which is able to interact seamlessly with the knowledge-based system and extract useful information for process improvement, is still seen as an area that requires more study and investigation. In this research, the process optimization system with an effective process mining algorithm embedded for supporting knowledge discovery is proposed for use to achieve better quality control.
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J. Irudhaya Rajesh, Verma Prikshat, Paul Shum and L. Suganthi
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on follower emotional intelligence (EI) and examine the potential mediation role played…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on follower emotional intelligence (EI) and examine the potential mediation role played by follower EI in the relationship between TL and follower outcomes (i.e. growth satisfaction in the job and job stress (JS)).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained through survey using questionnaire collected from 908 employees who worked across six different sectors, i.e. manufacturing, IT, healthcare, hospitality, educational and public services in Southern India. The mediation model proposed in this study was tested using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping method.
Findings
The relationship between TL and Follower EI was significant. Follower EI was found to partially mediate the relationship between TL and followers’ growth satisfaction in job. Contrary to expectations, the follower EI did not significantly predict JS in this study and hence the follower EI did not mediate in the proposed model. However, follower EI and growth satisfaction in the job jointly mediated the relationship between TL and follower JS fully.
Research limitations/implications
Self-report bias about supervisors’ TL behaviours and followers’ own EI assessment and collection of data from the mono-source (subordinate self-report) might have impacted the results of this study. Moreover, some items were negatively worded and reverse coded as cognitive speed bumps to restrain the respondent’s tendency to rush through answering the survey questionnaire.
Practical implications
This study established a partial and joint mediation of follower EI on the relationship between TL and follower outcomes. Basing on these findings, this study highlights the need for the practitioners to better understand the importance of EI training for the leaders in the organisations for obtaining better outcomes in the followers.
Social implications
The study establishes the fact that the attunement of transformational leaders’ EI and follower EI help leaders as well as followers to guide their behaviour towards positive outcomes.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to examine the impact of TL on follower EI and the potential mediation of follower EI between TL and follower outcomes. From a theoretical perspective, this study is one step closer to fully understand the intervening process between TL and follower outcomes.
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Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala and Paul Kwok Shum
Frequent food safety incidents caused widespread consumer concerns. Even though food safety is one of the weakest links in the fresh food supply chain and influences consumer food…
Abstract
Purpose
Frequent food safety incidents caused widespread consumer concerns. Even though food safety is one of the weakest links in the fresh food supply chain and influences consumer food choice in ways different from the quality dimension, this factor is hardly proposed as one of the key traditional supplier selection criteria (e.g. quality, delivery, and price) in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a business process decision model to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. The preferred fresh food suppliers can minimize the risk of food safety failure and the associated huge food safety failure costs spanning from private consumer anguish to social distress that cause unbearable costs of sales loss and damage to brand image in business.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a novel approach that combines several well-established multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques, including fuzzy AHP (FAHP), TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, and innovatively apply to analyze supplier performance and prioritize potential fresh food suppliers. This hybrid business process model can enforce compliance to all the five non-compensatory sub-criteria of food safety. Since ELECTRE is a non-compensatory MCDM method, it is therefore particularly applicable for disqualifying high risk fresh food suppliers from further full scale supplier performance evaluation by FAHP and TOPSIS. This hybrid business process decision model is able to capitalize on the strengths of these MCDM methods and offset their deficiencies.
Findings
This study uses data of an international supermarket chain to validate feasibility of the proposed model. Results indicate that this model is able to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria via the ELECTRE method in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. Only the preferred suppliers with the required food safety capability can proceed to the second stage of the supplier selection process. Assessment via the TOPSIS method reveals the ranking order of those top performing suppliers according to their relative scores along all the supplier selection criteria. The TOPSIS ranking results with the selection of the suppliers C, E, A, and F are robust and consistent across all the different scenarios.
Practical implications
Application to the fresh food industry is possible with the aid of the MCDM methods. The contribution to the body of knowledge in this teaching and research field demonstrates the importance of first identifying the order qualifier for disqualifying those suppliers that do not satisfy the food safety requirements via the ELECTRE method. The proposed assessment procedure complies with the regulatory policy on food safety, and would influence public policy in applying the best practice of food safety regulation. Without first qualifying the potential suppliers on the basis of food safety, wrong decision can be made to select those high food risk suppliers that have relatively higher overall scores in other supplier selection criteria. Using the assessment results has positive economic and commercial impact on the purchasing managers to formulate appropriate purchasing and supplier development strategy to enhance supplier’s food safety performance, whilst maximizing the overall supplier portfolio performance. The improved supplier’s food safety performance will certainly benefit the society’s quality of life as well.
Originality/value
Based on the analytical MCDM methods of FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, purchasing managers can operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. This study represents the first move to innovatively apply the FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE methods to operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. Application to the fresh food industry to validate the feasibility of the proposed model has been conceived and implemented in this study. Analysis of the data inputs of a supermarket chain via the three MCDM methods generate the results that fulfill the purpose of achieving the research objective of identifying and managing the supplier base that can deliver the best supplier performance, conditional on first passing the fresh food safety test.
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Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala, Premaratne Samaranayake and Paul Shum
Strategic analysis of customer profitability for assessing market segmentation and reconfiguring customer relationship management (CRM) activities remains the key factor for…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic analysis of customer profitability for assessing market segmentation and reconfiguring customer relationship management (CRM) activities remains the key factor for achieving high return on CRM investment. The purpose of this paper is to map the profit-based ranking of corporate customers into the current market segments, with a view of determining the relative profitability of each market segment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develops a novel model that combines activity-based costing (ABC), CRM, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods to evaluate strategically customer profitability and prioritizing corporate accounts. This case study airline company has invested heavily in CRM over the past seven years on integrating multi-functional departments that touch customers. The airline operations management and marketing functions provide key inputs. Results of the hybrid model validate feasibility of the proposed model.
Findings
The airline management makes use of the ranking results to optimize customer profitability by reconfiguring marketing programs, integrated schedule design, fleet assignment, maintenance routing, crew scheduling, and real-time optimization of schedule recovery in the aftermath of disruptions or irregularities. The proposed model also directs the marketing function to customize service offerings and introduce appropriate service levels to engage customers of different segments for the purpose of maximizing corporate profitability.
Research limitations/implications
Significant amount of investment is necessary to design and implement the extensive CRM database and systems to assure customer data quality and availability so as to bear fruits in the proposed hybrid model. These data requirements can especially be a critical barrier for small to medium-sized companies.
Practical implications
This hybrid model is able to capitalize on the benefits of the ABC, CRM, fuzzy AHP, and TOPSIS methods and offset their deficiencies. Most importantly, it can be applied to various industries without complex modification.
Originality/value
This study represents the first move to adopt the fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS methods to analyze the ABC and CRM data inputs of an airline company. In mapping the profit-based ranking of corporate customers into the current market segments, the relative profitability of each market segment can be determined.
Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala, Premaratne Samaranayake and Paul K. Shum
As a response to increasing global market competition, companies in various industries tend to identify and manage customer relationship to increase profit performance. Companies…
Abstract
Purpose
As a response to increasing global market competition, companies in various industries tend to identify and manage customer relationship to increase profit performance. Companies commit more resources to identify their VIP customers and retain them by all means. The purpose of this paper is to develop a customer relationship management (CRM) business process management (BPM) model to identify airline customers with different degree of relationship and profit potential, and select the highly profitable customers for developing retention strategy and processes, and convert the less profitable into profitable corporate accounts.
Design/methodology/approach
This study innovatively apply the well-known techniques including CRM and relationship marketing models, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) in the BPM research. This novel approach analyzes longer term customer profit and value potential, and prioritizes corporate accounts as the basis for setting appropriate customer service levels and improving the CRM process. This hybrid model is able to capitalize on the benefits of these methods and offset their deficiencies. Most importantly, it can be customized to various industries without complex modification.
Findings
This study uses data of an airline company to validate feasibility of the proposed CRM BPM model. The results indicate that this model is able to classify the customers based on various criteria and sub-criteria, thus allowing companies to introduce appropriate service levels to deal with different categories of customers, and improve CRM process so as to maximize customer profit and value potential.
Practical implications
This CRM BPM model and analysis provide managers extensive customer knowledge, more analytical and fact-based decision-making support, and a stronger focus on return on investment in sales and marketing. Knowing the profit and value potential generated by individual corporate customer makes it easier to establish the link between the CRM and the profit outcome. This model also benefits the organization and its stakeholders by allocating more resources to the targeted customer relationships that are profitable or valuable, and makes marketing more accountable in its marketing programs.
Originality/value
This study makes the first move to innovatively apply the well-known techniques including CRM and relationship marketing models, FAHP, and TOPSIS in the BPM research.
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Elvia Shauki, Ratnam Alagiah, Brenton Fiedler and Krystyna Sawon
This study aims to determine whether different perceptions based on a learner’s characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity, and duration of stay in Australia provide an explanation…
Abstract
This study aims to determine whether different perceptions based on a learner’s characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity, and duration of stay in Australia provide an explanation of teaching performance evaluations. Perceptions determine interpersonal behaviour (including communication and motivation)and the way a learner believes that they are going to be assessed by the teacher. Thereby, this will impact on a student’s formal evaluation of teaching performance through a student survey of teaching (SST). This study considers the existence of ethnic and gender bias in postgraduate students undertaking accounting‐related courses. The study applies a combination of quantitative online and offline surveys which include SST data and additional questions identifying demographic data to demonstrate that a learner’s evaluation of teaching performance is influenced by the learner’s perceptions. Whilst there were no significant findings related to gender, we identified that students from certain ethnic backgrounds and citizenship, had different perceptions of a teacher’s performance. In addition we identified age and duration of stay in Australia as two demographic elements which were also statistically significant.
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Connie Shum, Wing‐Hung Tam and Gladie Lui
This study examines accounting academics' perceptions of practical experience. Although such experience is perceived as important for student learning and school image, it is not…
Abstract
This study examines accounting academics' perceptions of practical experience. Although such experience is perceived as important for student learning and school image, it is not a relevant factor in hiring, tenure and promotion decisions in their schools. As a result, even though faculty would like to gain/refresh their practical experience, they do not find much opportunity provided by their schools. In addition, faculty members, especially those who have not obtained tenure status, find it more important to have publications in order to succeed. Consequently, they find no incentive to gain such experience.
Georgina Lukanova and Galina Ilieva
Purpose: This paper presents a review of the current state and potential capabilities for application of robots, artificial intelligence and automated services (RAISA) in hotel…
Abstract
Purpose: This paper presents a review of the current state and potential capabilities for application of robots, artificial intelligence and automated services (RAISA) in hotel companies.
Design/methodology/approach: A two-step approach was applied in this study. First, the authors make a theoretical overview of the robots, artificial intelligence and service automation (RAISA) in hotels. Second, the authors make a detailed overview of various case studies from global hotel practice.
Findings: The application of RAISA in hotel companies is examined in connection with the impact that technology has on guest experience during each of the five stages of the guest cycle: pre-arrival, arrival, stay, departure, assessment.
Research implications: Its implications can be searched with respect to future research. It deals with topics such as how different generations (guests and employees) perceive RAISA in the hotel industry and what is the attitude of guests in different categories of hotels (luxury and economy) towards the use of RAISA. It also shows what is the attitude of different types of tourists (holiday, business, health, cultural, etc.) and what kinds of robots (androids or machines) are more appropriate for different types of hotel operations.
Practical implications: The implications are related to the improvement of operations and operational management, marketing and sales, enhancement of customer experience and service innovation, training and management.
Originality/value: This book chapter complements and expands research on the role of RAISA in the hotel industry and makes some projections about the use of technologies in the future.
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The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This…
Abstract
The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This will sometimes happen after a long period of indecision or when things are extremely difficult, as they have long been for the country, in most homes and among ordinary individuals. Watching one's life savings dwindle away, the nest‐egg laid down for security in an uncertain world, is a frightening process. This has happened to the nation, once the richest in the world, and ot its elderly people, most of them taught the habit of saving in early youth. We are also taught that what has been is past changing; the clock cannot be put back, and the largesse—much of it going to unprincipled spongers—distributed by a spendthrift Government as token relief is no answer, not even to present difficulties. The response can only come by a change of heart in those whose brutal selfishness have caused it all; and this may be a long time in coming. In the meantime, it is a useful exercise to consider our assets, to recognize those which must be protected at all costs and upon which, when sanity returns, the future depends.