Evaluation of retail service quality using analytic hierarchy process

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 521-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhurima Deb ◽  
Ewuuk Lomo-David

Purpose – The deployment of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to help the retail industry to recognize which retail service quality (RSQ) dimensions require attention to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to use a comparative evaluation model to compare retail stores (supermarkets) across several RSQ dimensions, validated and tested RSQ model in the context of Indian supermarkets and explore the existence of RSQ gap by studying the difference between customers’ perception and expectations. Design/methodology/approach – This study deploys AHP in which the decision problem is broken down into hierarchy; thus customer preference involves the structuring of a hierarchy in terms of the overall objective, the selection criteria and the decision alternatives. AHP technique allows pairwise comparisons to be made among the alternatives with respect to the service dimensions. Findings – This study validated the formal RSQ scale developed by Dabholkar et al., (1996) by a modification that led to making it more suitable to the Indian context. Research limitations/implications – This research does not provide guidance on different course of action to be taken. Though this study identifies which service dimensions require improvement, it does not provide guidance on an appropriate action plan to address deficiencies. Practical implications – Prospective and existing retailers can use this instrument effectively to measure the quality of their services as perceived by customers in comparison to their competition. This work will not only help the supermarkets to improve their competitive positioning in the marketplace but will help them to identify areas of services needing improvement on priority basis. Originality/value – Application of AHP to determine the best customer preference is the first ever done in RSQ studies. It does open up another dimension for further studies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawzeia Abdulla Al Marzooqi ◽  
Matloub Hussain ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore certain resources, capabilities and competencies needed to improve the performance of physical asset management (PAM). Design/methodology/approach The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to select and prioritize the most appropriate factors for improving performance. A multi-criteria approach is used to analyze and compare the importance of 6 main criteria and 18 subcriteria identified from a survey of relevant literature. Findings The study revealed that not all factors are viewed as having equal importance in improving PAM performance, as three of the main factors attained greater importance among the six factors. Research limitations/implications This study explored the factors required for managing assets only within the third stage of asset lifecycle, that is, the utilization stage. It is recommended that future studies be conducted in such a way as to determine the importance of similar factors in the other stages of the asset lifecycle, or to identify new factors and add new criteria. Practical implications Knowledge of the differential impacts of the factors on the performance of PAM can impact asset managers and decision makers in their allocation of resources and focus their work on the highest-ranked rather than the lowest-ranked factors. Also, AHP used provides an effective mean for asset managers to identify priorities among decision criteria in their organization. Originality/value To date, no study has explored the impact of six combined factors on the performance of PAM. Previous studies have found that these factors each had equal importance. However, their relative ranking in practice and when they appear together have remained unrecognized.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakup Çelikbilek

Purpose Evaluations of grey systems and systems with subjective judgements are always like an impasse for science and companies. Especially, calculations of the problems which include various units are really difficult situations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a grey analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP) for engineering and managerial problems with grey systems to make more clear and objective decisions. Design/methodology/approach Proposed G-AHP approach is applied to project manager selection for a software project of an energy company. The application includes three different units as year, score and assessment. Six engineers are evaluated with 25 criteria in the application. Weights of the factors and assessments are done by three top managers of the company as pairwise comparisons. Other data in the decision matrix are obtained from the personal information and exam results of engineers. Findings Final weights of the criteria and evaluations of engineers are all done with the proposed G-AHP. Obtained results of G-AHP are also compared with grey “VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje” results as a validation of the calculations and proposed approach. Final results of the applications are ranked for the evaluations and comparison. All results of the case study are concluded with the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed G-AHP method both for this study and other fields of science, engineering and management. Originality/value This study provides to evaluate and interpret grey systems with different units and subjective judgements for science, engineering and management more clearly and objectively in an easier way.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Al Qubaisi ◽  
Masood Badri ◽  
Jihad Mohaidat ◽  
Hamad Al Dhaheri ◽  
Guang Yang ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytic hierarchy planning-based framework to establish criteria weights and to develop a school performance system commonly called school inspections. Design/methodology/approach – The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model uses pairwise comparisons and a measurement scale to generate the weights for the criteria. The validity of the approach is confirmed by comparing the outputs of school inspection and the outputs of the model in a sample of schools. Findings – The framework proposed enables school management to address several issues pertaining to its competitive advantage with other schools, the two most important being establishing its performance ranking in the marketplace and identifying the service elements that most require improvement. This study develops a cohesive approach to identify which quality attributes or dimensions require attention. Research limitations/implications – For school inspections, the data collection and computational problems would increase with the increase in the number of criteria and sub-criteria, as well as the number of schools considered in the selection. Although the range of reported AHP applications is extensive in many disciplines, examples in school quality and inspection remain still rare; as a result, this study could not compare its results with other AHP applications in school inspection or assessment. Practical implications – The AHP method has the distinct advantage that it decomposes a decision problem into its constituent parts and builds hierarchies of criteria. AHP enables assessors to capture both subjective and objective evaluation measures of school quality. By providing a useful mechanism for assessing the consistency of the evaluation measures and alternatives, the AHP reduces bias in decision making. Social implications – The AHP model also provides a more systematic evaluation of a given school’s qualitative performance criteria. The proposed AHP model is attractive to assessors and decision makers because its pairwise comparison procedure enables them to offer a relative (rather than absolute) individual criterion assessment on those qualitative factors. Originality/value – The AHP model could become a sustainable component of overall school system quality improvement by maturing over time. The AHP annual scores could be used as realistic and measureable gauges for measuring school improvement.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluseye Adewale Adebimpe ◽  
David G. Proverbs ◽  
Victor Oluwasina Oladokun

PurposeRecent changes in climate, rainfall patterns, snow melt and rising sea levels coupled with an increase in urban development have increased the threat of flooding. To curb these threats and mitigate these damages, property-level approaches to improving resilience are now being encouraged as part of an integrated approach to flood risk management. This raises questions such as, what are the flood resilient attributes within individual properties, what is their importance and how can these be quantified. This research sought to develop a quantitative approach for the measurement of property-level flood resilience.Design/methodology/approachA synthesis of literature was undertaken to establish the main resilient attributes and their relevant sub-attributes. This process led to the development of a new method, named the Composite Flood Resilient Index (CFRI) to weight the attributes and sub-attributes of flood resilience based on their importance. The approach adopts the use of the fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) approach to quantify flood resilience.FindingsThe implications of the proposed methodology in determining the flood resilience of individual property, including the potential use in retrofitting activities, and the benefits to a range of stakeholders are considered.Social implicationsThe methodology offers the potential to support the measurement of flood resilience of individual properties, allowing the identification and prioritisation of specific interventions to improve the resilience of a property.Originality/valueWhereas previous attempts to quantify flood resilience have adopted qualitative approaches with some level of subjectivity, this proposed methodology represents an important advancement in developing a scientific and quantitative approach.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Talib ◽  
Saheim K Josaiman ◽  
Mohd. Nishat Faisal

PurposeTypically, adoption of sustainability in organizations are often done in an unstructured way without the consideration of other partners in the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a coherent plan to improve sustainability in the supply chains utilizing ISO standards for environment and social responsibility.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on literature on ISO14000 and ISO26000 to derive a set of variables applicable to supply chains, which are then prioritized for real organizations utilizing analytic hierarchy process.FindingsThe findings highlight that not all the variables of environmental, social and economic responsibility are equally important. Besides, the work reported in this paper justifies the application of multi-criteria decision-making (AHP) to prioritize elements of sustainability in context supply chains. The suggested method is illustrated using inputs from large manufacturing companies in Qatar.Practical implicationsISO14000 and ISO26000 are well known standards; however, there was no effort to integrate these standards to improve sustainability in supply chains. The suggested methodology provides invaluable help to the managers to implement sustainability in a coherent manner across the supply chain.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the extant literature by proposing a new methodology based on the integration of three-approaches: Analytic Hierarchy Process, ISO14000 and ISO26000 systems.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 3831-3857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samira Salehi Heidari ◽  
Mohammad Khanbabaei ◽  
Majid Sabzehparvar

Purpose One of the most important issues in supply chain (SC) management is the identification and management of the risk involved in it. The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive model of supply chain risk management (SCRM) in the product life cycle (PLC) and the operational process cycle (OPC). To decrease the risks in a fuzzy environment, the model considers the organizational performance factors (OPF) and the risk operational practices (ROP). Design/methodology/approach Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weights of the relationships between the PLC, OPC and OPF in the hierarchical structure of the decision problem. In addition, the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution is employed to recognize the priority of ROPs in dealing with the performance factors. The integrated framework is evaluated using the case study of an automotive company in Iran. Findings The results demonstrated that the proposed model can be used to formulate an appropriate method for prioritizing defined alternatives to decrease risk and improve the organizational performance in SCRM under fuzzy conditions. Research limitations/implications A major limitation of the study is that a few of the selected criteria for risk assessment are focused only on economic factors. Another limitation of the current study is related to the PLC, OPC and OPF being based on the work of Xia and Chen (2011). Practical implications The current study identified the more important stage in the PLC. More significant process in each stage of the PLC and weightier risk factors in each process of the OPC were determined. Some strategies for reducing risk in each stage of the PLC were presented. The best alternatives for reducing risks in SC were indicated. Originality/value It is worth mentioning that previous studies have not applied multiple criteria and alternatives to decrease the risks involved in the PLC and OPC parts of the SC under fuzzy conditions. However, it should be stated that some academics have used these techniques separately, in other specialized areas of the SC.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingkui Xi ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Feng Ni ◽  
Guiting Cha ◽  
Ping Bao

Purpose – This paper aims to describe and analyse the interlibrary loan and document delivery (ILL/DD) in university libraries in Jiangsu Province, China, and to evaluate the service quality of one library as an example of how to improve. Design/methodology/approach – This paper first describes the ILL/DD of the Jiangsu Academic Library & Information System (JALIS). It then provides an analysis of the problems in JALIS ILL/DD and gives some suggestions for improvement. Finally, it evaluates the service quality of one library’s ILL/DD based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Findings – It is found that JALIS ILL/DD can be done better via small consortia and discipline centres, and that AHP can be used to evaluate the service quality of a library’s ILL/DD. Social implications – More patrons can access better service, and the work effectiveness of librarians can be improved. Originality/value – This paper is helpful to librarians interested in ILL/DD or resource sharing in China.


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