A Multiagent Framework for Selection of Trustworthy Service Providers

Purpose Kupferstein (2018) surveyed 460 respondents and found that 46 percent of respondents met the diagnostic threshold for posttraumatic stress disorder after exposure to applied-behavior-analysis-based intervention. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation a critical analysis of Kupferstein (2018) including the experimental methods and discussion of the results. Design/methodology/approach The authors evaluated the Kupferstein’s methodological rigor with respect to the use of hypothesis testing, use of indirect measures, selection of respondents, ambiguity in definitions, measurement system, and framing of the experimental question when conducting the correlational analysis in addition to Kupferstein’s analysis and discussion of the results. Findings Based upon the analysis, Kupferstein’s results should be viewed with extreme caution due to several methodological and conceptual flaws including, but not limited to, leading questions used within a non-validated survey, failure to confirm diagnosis, and incomplete description of interventions. Originality/value It is the authors’ hope that this analysis provides caregivers, clinicians, and service providers with a scientific lens which will useful in viewing the limitations and methodological flaws of Kupferstein.

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Evaluation and Selection of Nigerian Third-Party Logistics Service Providers Using Multi-Criteria Decision Models

LOGI – Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics ◽

10.2478/logi-2021-0013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 135-146

Author(s):

E.A. Ejem ◽

C.M. Uka ◽

D.N. Dike ◽

C.C. Ikeogu ◽

C.C. Igboanusi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Service Providers ◽

Service Level ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Third Party ◽

Decision Models ◽

Third Party Logistics ◽

Logistics Service ◽

Logistics Service Providers ◽

Selection Of

Abstract This paper is focused on solving the evaluation and selection of 3PL’s by applying multi-criteria decision-making methods. Nigerian Breweries, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), AG Leventis, Kobo logistics, and Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) were understudied. The main criteria on which evaluation is based were established: Cost, Service level, Financial Capability, Reputation and Long-term relationship. A combination of two quantitative models was adopted in the study. Relevant data were collected through an oral interview with managers and key decision-makers at the companies. SWARA was first applied to the collated data to determine the relative weights of the criteria. Afterwards, the TOPSIS was applied to the weights developed using SWARA and on the performance of the selected service providers. After the analysis, the best service provider was identified as supplier 2 while the worst was supplier 5.

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Explaining the role of trust in cloud computing services

Info ◽

10.1108/info-09-2014-0042 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 54-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Joseph Kwame Adjei

Keyword(s):

Cloud Computing ◽

Financial Institutions ◽

Service Providers ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Content Type ◽

Computing Services ◽

Cloud Computing Service ◽

Cloud Computing Services ◽

Selection Of

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of trust in cloud computing services based on empirical evidence from interviewing executives of financial institutions in Ghana. The paper answers the questions: what is the role of trust in cloud computing service acquisition, and what policies promote trusted cloud computing services? Design/methodology/approach – This is an explanatory paper that is based on literature review and empirical data on exploring reasons for cloud computing service acquisitions. A combination of interviews and focus group discussions was used as methods for data collection. Information technology and electronic banking executives of five major commercial banks in Accra, Ghana, between January and July 2013 were interviewed. A total of ten respondents were interviewed, two in each of the selected banks. A purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of informants. This approach allows the selection of qualified informants to ensure extensiveness and diversity of opinion. Findings – Although previous literature proffers various factors as key to cloud computing adoption, uses or provisioning, this study brings trust to the fore as an imperative for cloud computing service acquisition by financial institutions. It also shows that trust increases if users perceive that cloud computing service providers act in honesty and in users’ interest, making trust a fundamental factor that informs financial institutions’ decision to acquire cloud computing services. Research limitations/implications – The research introduces a new dimension about the widely held perceptions of the factors that influence adoption of cloud computing services. Practical implications – Developers of cloud computing solutions that are targeted at corporate users must focus on systems that enhances their trustworthiness, as it is a primary criteria for user buy-in. Similarly, any trust-building effort by cloud computing service providers minimizes users’ concerns and pushes the services providers closer to the trust threshold. Originality/value – The paper outlines the trust factors that are imperative for cloud computing uses by financial institutions. This is one of the pioneering papers that address trust issues in cloud computing from the perspective of financial institutions.

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Grid Workflows with Encompassed Business Relationships

Grid and Cloud Computing ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-0879-5.ch604 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 1332-1348

Author(s):

Dimosthenis Kyriazis ◽

Andreas Menychtas ◽

Theodora Varvarigou

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Service ◽

Service Providers ◽

Added Value ◽

Business Relationships ◽

Qos Provisioning ◽

Grid Services ◽

Qos Parameters ◽

Mapping Process ◽

Selection Of

This chapter focuses on presenting and describing an approach that allows the mapping of workflow processes to Grid provided services by not only taking into account the quality of service (QoS) parameters of the Grid services but also the potential business relationships of the service providers that may affect the aforementioned QoS parameters. This approach is an integral part of the QoS provisioning, since this is the only way to estimate, calculate, and conclude to the mapping of workflows and the selection of the available service types and instances in order to deliver an overall quality of service across a federation of providers. The added value of this approach lays on the fact that business relationships of the service providers are also taken into account during the mapping process.

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A Decision Support System for Selecting Secure Web Services

Business Information Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-969-9.ch035 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 556-564

Author(s):

Khaled M. Khan

Keyword(s):

Web Services ◽

Web Service ◽

Service Providers ◽

Selection Process ◽

Enterprise Systems ◽

Third Party ◽

Security Requirements ◽

Enterprise Application ◽

Systems Security ◽

Selection Of

Web service is becoming an important area of business processing and research for enterprise systems. Various Web service providers currently offer diverse computing services ranging from entertainment, finance, and health care to real-time application. With the widespread proliferation of Web Services, not only delivering secure services has become a critical challenge for the service providers, but users face constant challenges in selecting the appropriate Web services for their enterprise application systems. Security has become an important issue for information systems (IS) managers for a secure integration of Web services with their enterprise systems. Security is one of the determining factors in selecting appropriate Web services. The need for run-time composition of enterprise systems with third-party Web services requires a careful selection process of Web services with security assurances consistent with the enterprise business goal. Selection of appropriate Web services with required security assurances is essentially a problem of choice among several alternative services available in the market. The IS managers have little control of the actual security behavior of the third-party Web services, however, they can control the selection of right services which could likely comply their security requirements. Selecting third-party Web services arbitrarily over the Internet is critical as well as risky.

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A Novel Physics Inspired Approach for Web Service Composition

International Journal of Web Services Research ◽

10.4018/ijwsr.2014040104 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 67-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tanveer Ahmed ◽

Abhishek Srivastava

Keyword(s):

Web Services ◽

Web Service ◽

Service Composition ◽

Service Oriented Architecture ◽

Service Providers ◽

Web Service Composition ◽

Heterogeneous Services ◽

Service Oriented ◽

Service Consumer ◽

Selection Of

Service oriented architecture has revolutionized the way a traditional business process is executed. The success of this architecture is Indue to the composition of multiple heterogeneous services at runtime. Web service composition is a mechanism where several web services are combined at runtime to build a complex application for a user. It is one of the most sought after processes in the context of semantic web. But, composition of web services at runtime is a difficult task owing to the availability of multiple service providers offering the same functionality. The process if exasperated by due conflicting preferences of a service consumer. In this paper, the authors address the issue of selecting a service based on Quality of Service (QoS) attributes. They utilize concepts customized from physics to create an environment that facilitates the selection of a best service from the set of similar services. The technique not only facilitates the selection of the service with the best QoS attributes, but distributes the load among expeditiously. Here in this paper, the authors concentrate on minimizing and equitably balancing the waiting time for a user. They conduct in silico experiments on multiple workflows to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed technique to balance load efficiently among similar service offerings.

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