Patients ' preference on selecting a medical institution

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Kobayashi ◽  
Toshiki Mano ◽  
Kazunobu Yamauchi
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Patient Selection ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Organizational Form ◽  
Medical Institution ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relative importance of attributes for patient selection of a medical institution and to quantitatively evaluate the impact of different types of organizational forms upon the patient ' s selection of a medical institution. Design/methodology/approach – By using a conjoint analysis, evaluation criteria in patient selection of a medical institution were examined. The paper assumed the selection of a medical institution under the situation of “being given a diagnosis of suspected diabetes with a physical examination and then visiting a medical institution”. The attributes included in the questionnaire were: quality of the medical institution, distance to the hospital, amount paid at the initial visit, amount paid at hospitalization for examinations, and organizational form of the hospital. Relative importance of the attributes and relative importance of organizational form were assessed. A total of 140 people were requested to respond to the questionnaire by way of researchers who have a connection with the authors. Completed responses were obtained from 111 subjects (79 per cent). Findings – The results of the conjoint analysis revealed that the most important attribute was quality of the medical institution. Organizational form was the attribute with the lowest importance. The utility value of being a public hospital was the highest within the organizational form attribute for all respondents and being a private hospital was the lowest. The quality of the medical institution was considered the most important factor in selecting a medical institution and the type of organizational form was considered least important. Regarding organizational form, being a public hospital was most preferred and being a hospital managed by a company and a private hospital were least preferred respectively among healthcare professionals and other occupations. Originality/value – The paper provides a relative evaluation of the factors thought to be important for patients in Japan when selecting a medical institution.

scholarly journals Which cues cause consumers to perceive brands as more global? A conjoint analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 606-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah De Meulenaer ◽  
Nathalie Dens ◽  
Patrick De Pelsmacker
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Brand Name ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the globalization (vs localization) of different cues (advertising copy, brand name, spokesperson, brand logo) influences consumers’ perceived brand globalness. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted conjoint analyses for two products differing in product category involvement (chocolates vs computer) with 200 consumers from the Netherlands. Additionally, based on cluster analysis, the authors divide respondents into two groups: local vs global consumer culture individuals, and the authors compare the results of the conjoint analysis for these two clusters. Findings – Advertising copy is most important in determining perceived brand globalness. The spokesperson and the brand logo determine perceived brand globalness more strongly for a low-involvement product, whereas the brand name is more important for a high-involvement product. Further, the spokesperson and the brand logo are relatively more important for global consumer culture individuals, while local consumer culture individuals find the brand name and advertising copy relatively more important. Practical implications – The most important cue to position a brand as global is the advertising copy. Brand managers of a low-involvement product and/or targeting global-minded consumers should concentrate on the spokesperson and the brand logo to position their brand. Managers of a high-involvement product and/or targeting local-minded people should focus on the brand name. Originality/value – While a number of researchers have emphasized the importance of perceived brand globalness for international consumer behavior, the present study is the first to the authors’ knowledge to investigate the relative importance of different cues in creating perceptions of brand globalness.

Facilitating quality project manager selection for Indian business environment using analytical hierarchy process

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1177-1194
Author(s):  
Keshav Kumar Sharma ◽  
Anup Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Hierarchy Process ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Skills ◽  
Manager Selection ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Selection Of

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop criteria for project manager selection based on desired skills of a project manager and facilitate the selection of a suitable candidate from a pool of potential candidates for the implementation of projects in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes three major skills, namely human skill, conceptual and organizational skills; technical skill along with their sub-skills to develop criteria for project manager selection. Based on the responses of project professionals from industry, the study uses analytical hierarchy process to prioritize and identify the relative importance of different skills in the criteria in order to develop a hierarchical structure for project manager selection.FindingsThe study finds that at the first level of project manager selection criteria, conceptual and organizational skills are the most important selection criteria followed by human skills and technical skills. At the second level of project manager selection criteria, planning, delegating authority and understanding methods, processes, and procedures are some of the important sub-selection criteria. The weights indicating the relative importance of major selection criteria and sub-selection criteria can be used to evaluate the relative weight of a given candidate for selection as a project manager.Research limitations/implicationsThe results in this study are derived from specific demographic conditions in India. Future research with larger samples from other countries is needed for generalizations of the proposed criteria.Practical implicationsThe proposed method quantifies the intangible qualitative criteria to select a project manager, which can aid decision-makers in a multi-criteria decision-making environment.Originality/valueThis research paper is focused on the identification of critical skills for the selection of a project manager, which is almost neglected by the researchers.

scholarly journals Which cues influence the perceived usefulness and credibility of an online review? A conjoint analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Isabel Lopes ◽  
Nathalie Dens ◽  
Patrick De Pelsmacker ◽  
Freya De Keyzer
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Argument Strength

PurposeThis study aims to assess the relative importance of the argument strength, argument sidedness, writing quality, number of arguments, rated review usefulness, summary review rating and number of reviews in determining the perceived usefulness and credibility of an online review. Additionally, the authors use insights from the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore the effect of consumers' product category involvement on the cues' relative importance.Design/methodology/approachA conjoint analysis (N = 287) is used to study the relative importance of the seven previously mentioned attributes. A balanced orthogonal design generated eight cards that correspond to individual reviews. Respondents scored all eight cards in a random order for perceived usefulness and credibility.FindingsOverall, argument strength is the most important cue, while summary review rating and the number of reviews are the least important for perceived review usefulness and credibility. The number of arguments is more important for people who are more highly involved with the product, while writing quality and rated review usefulness are relatively more important for the low-involvement group.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive test of how consumers perceive online reviews, as it the first to the authors’ knowledge to simultaneously investigate a large set of cues using conjoint analysis. This method allows for the implicit valuation (utility) of the individual cues, revealing the cues' relative importance, in a setting that comes close to a real-life context. Besides, insights of the ELM are used to understand how the relative importance of cues differs depending on the level of review readers' product category involvement.

Human resources ranking in a cloud-based knowledge sharing framework using the quality control criteria

Kybernetes ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 876-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parisa Fouladi ◽  
Nima Jafari Navimipour
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Control Criteria ◽  
Control Criteria ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose This paper aims to propose a new method for evaluating the quality and prioritizing of the human resources (HRs) based on trust, reputation, agility, expertise and cost criteria in the expert cloud. To evaluate some quality control (QC) factors, a model based on the SERVQUAL is used. Design/methodology/approach The aim of this paper is to offer a fast and simple method for selecting the HRs by the customers. To achieve this goal, the ranking diagram of different HRs based on the different criteria of QC is provided. By means of this method, the customer can rapidly decide on the selection of the required HRs. By using the proposed method, the scores for various criteria are evaluated. These criteria are used in the ranking of each HR which is obtained based on the evaluation conducted by previous customers and their colleagues. First, customers were asked to select their needed criteria and then by constructing a hierarchical structure, the ranking diagram of different HRs is achieved. Using a ranking system based on evaluating the quality of the model, satisfy the customer needs to be based on the properties of HRs. Also, an analytical hierarchical process-based ranking mechanism is proposed to solve the problem of assigning weights to features for considering the interdependence between them to rank the HRs in the expert cloud. Findings The obtained results showed the applicability of the radar graph using a case study and also numerically obtained results showed that a hierarchical structure increases the quality and speed rating of HR ranking than the previous works. Originality/value The suggested ranking method in this paper allows the optimal selection due to the special needs of any given customer in the expert cloud.

Measuring quality performance between public and private hospitals in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selim Ahmed ◽  
Noor Hazilah Abd Manaf ◽  
Rafikul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
Quality Performance ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public And Private Hospitals

Purpose This study aims to measure quality performance of the Malaysian hospitals based on eight items, namely, progress of quality management, medical service cost, reduce errors in medical services, patient waiting time, reduce waste in processes, patient complaint, employee job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. Mainly, it identifies difference or conformance between public and private hospitals on quality performance. Design/methodology/approach This study distributed 1,007 self-administered survey questionnaires to the hospital staff (i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical laboratory technologists), resulting in 438 useful responses (43.5 per cent response rate). Research data were analysed based on descriptive analysis and independent samples’ t-tests using SPSS version 23. Findings The findings of this study indicate that there are significant differences between public and private hospital staff on progress of quality improvement process, patient satisfaction and cost of the medical services. Private hospital staff believed that their hospital’s quality management process and patient satisfaction has been improved over the past years compared to public hospital. However, private hospital staff does not perceive their medical service cost has been reduced over the past years compared to public hospital. Research limitations/implications This research focused solely on quality performance of the Malaysian health sector and, thus, the results might not be applicable to other countries. Originality/value Present research findings provide guidelines for enhancing quality performance in Malaysian public and private healthcare sectors and other countries.

How e-tailing attributes affect perceived quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Tamimi ◽  
Rose Sebastianelli
Keyword(s):  
Online Reviews ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Product Reviews ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Customer Support ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Managerial Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report results from an experimental study in which participants rank e-tailer quality on the basis of descriptions involving five attributes (reputation of retailer, site usability, security, delivery and customer support). The paper further explores how the relative importance of these attributes to perceived e-tailer quality is impacted by customer demographic and behavioral characteristics (such as gender, age, frequency of online purchasing and use of online reviews). Design/methodology/approach – Individual-level conjoint models are estimated to determine the relative importance of these five attributes to perceptions of e-tailer quality. Findings – The relative importance of these five attributes to perceived e-tailer quality are impacted by customer specific characteristics and online behaviors, namely, age, the frequency of prior online purchasing, the frequency of use of online reviews and the importance attached to the availability of a large number of online product reviews. Research limitations/implications – Managerial implications that help e-tailers develop more effective, targeted strategies for enhancing the quality of their websites and increasing customer loyalty are presented. Originality/value – The use of conjoint analysis for decomposing overall judgments of e-tailer quality to derive the relative importance of specific e-tailing attributes offers a realistic way to understand how online customers perceive and evaluate e-tailer quality.

Using grey relational analysis to evaluate resource configuration and service ability for hospital on public private partnership model in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoning Li ◽  
Xinbo Liao ◽  
Xuerui Tan ◽  
Haijing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Public Hospital ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Resource Configuration ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relational Analysis ◽  
Correlation Degree ◽  
Absolute Correlation ◽  
Grey Relational

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate resource configuration and service ability in hospital on public private partnership (PPP) model (Chaonan Minsheng Hospital of Guangdong Province), supplying decision-making reference for participants of hospital on PPP model. Design/methodology/approach – Four model of grey relational analysis (GRA) (Deng's correlation degree, grey absolute correlation degree, grey relative correlation degree and grey comprehensive correlation degree) are applied to evaluate resource configuration and service ability, a total of 11 indicators of hospital on PPP model public hospital and private hospital from 2007 to 2011. Findings – The paper finds that different GRA models have different results when the paper applied them to evaluate resource configuration and service ability in hospital on PPP model. More than 60 per cent indicators of resource configuration (total six indicators) and service ability (total six indicators) are assessed as “hospital on PPP model ≻ public hospital” or “hospital on PPP model≻ private hospital” from three models of Deng's correlation degree, grey absolute correlation degree and grey comprehensive correlation degree. Practical implications – Evaluation of resource configuration and service ability for hospital on PPP model with GRA makes results quantified objective and provides reference for decision making and management. GRA makes the comparison of resource configuration and service ability between hospital on PPP model and other model hospitals becoming possible. Originality/value – The shortcoming for data analysis method of “large sample” is overcome and data analysis method of “small sample” is realized by using GRA, which broaden the method of evaluating hospital on PPP model.

Relative importance of country of service delivery, country of person and country of brand in hybrid service evaluation: a conjoint analysis approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 819-831
Author(s):  
Daniel Tumpal Hamonangan Aruan ◽  
Roberta Crouch ◽  
Pascale Quester
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Expectations ◽  
Service Type ◽  
Credence Services ◽  
Services Evaluation ◽  
Using Data

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relative importance of country of brand (COB), country of service delivery (COSD) and country of person (COP) in consumer evaluation of hybrid services. Design/methodology/approach Using data (N = 1,071) from Australia, Indonesia and Singapore, a conjoint analysis experimental design explored empirically the importance of country of origin (COO) effects in three service contexts: search, experience and credence. Findings The analysis reveals that the relative importance of COP was the highest for credence services, while COB was the strongest for experience services. Practical implications For firms operating offshore, companies must understand that the COO construct is multi-dimensional for services, as it is for tangible products and not limited only to COB as traditionally thought. At least two other distinct dimensions – COSD and COP – can play significant roles as predictors of service quality expectations. Companies must consider the implications of service type, according to the search-experience-credence continuum to inform staffing decisions and managing customer expectations. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature by extending the understanding of country image effects in the context of hybrid service provisions, particularly in the view of customer expectations of services with multiple country-of-origins. Although there have been several studies examining the effects of COO on services evaluation, no empirical study has examined the effects of multiple COOs simultaneously from the perspective of location where the service is delivered (COSD) and individuals who deliver the service (COP), in addition to the effect of COB origin.

scholarly journals Criteria for architect selection and satisfaction among first-time private sector clients

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adedapo Adewunmi Oluwatayo
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Importance Index ◽  
First Time ◽  
Timely Delivery ◽  
Selection Of

For sustained profitability, architects must position themselves to attract new clients. This involves understanding potential clients’ choices and how these might impact on subsequent satisfaction. The study ranked criteria for architect selection and how these predict satisfaction among first-time private sector clients in Lagos, Nigeria. Data from a questionnaire survey were analysed using descriptive statistics, relative importance index and categorical regression, identifying timely delivery, cost of service and quality of previous services as the most important criteria. Although personal relationship has been said to influence selection of a professional service provider, this criterion was found to be of relatively low importance here. To attract private sector clients, architects should prioritise improved service delivery and construction skill development.

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