Returning to the Body: Somatic Sensing in Multi-Person Virtual Reality Technology

This article uses a dance-somatic standpoint to explore the complexities of body-technology relations across the virtuality and corporeality of bodies and environments using multi-person Virtual Reality technology (VR). Immersion into a virtual environment (VE) using VR can lead to a sense of presence, of ‘being there’. Dancers move attending to a field of sensation which is felt and tactile, undertaking somatic and sensory practices to de-centre vision so to foreground and thus activate non-visual and somatic senses. From this dancerly standpoint, entering into a VE brings into play the immediate effect of a perceptual tension or ‘gap’ between the visual, virtual environment and the physical, felt environment. Technologists and artists engaging with VR typically find ways to cover-over this perception gap in order to create a reality that is fluidly and synchronously experienced by the participant. This article introduces and discusses two participatory performance projects Figuring (2018) and Soma (2020) which challenge this approach. Drawing on participant responses to Figuring, and the creative development of Soma, the article presents and discusses six themes which unpack and challenge normative notions and expectations around VR technology and how bodies sensorially engage with the technology; and discusses an ‘ethics of care’ which calls for somatic activation and participatory agency in human encounters with technology. Throughout, the article offers a commentary on the tensions between a thematic research approach and an intuitive, practice-led approach in the analysis of participant testimonies and in the creative processes of performance-making. 

Mind the Gap: Examining the Gap in International Passenger Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality in Low-cost Carriers

Meeting or exceeding passengers' service quality expectations has become a critical factor for lowcost carriers (LCC). Still, only limited efforts have been made to date to investigate the differences (gap) in LCC passengers' expectations and perceptions. A comprehensive 25-item SERVQUAL framework for LCC was first developed through an extensive literature review and insights obtained from exploratory interviews and focus groups with passengers and industry experts. Using survey data of LCC passengers, the validity and reliability of the framework were first established, and then the differences in the expectations and perceptions were understood. The results indicate that none of the service quality attributes of LCCs have met, let alone exceeded, expectations, and the most significant gaps were found for "reliability" and "responsiveness" dimensions. With the growing global demand for budget travel and new LCCs entering the market, the study provides timely insights for LCCs to narrow the expectation–perception gap and achieve competitive advantage.

A Preliminary Analysis of the Perception Gap between Employers and Vocational Students for Career Sustainability

(1) Background: Nowadays, technological advancement plays a key role in the economic uplift of developing countries, and it is paramount that the youth of these countries are well-equipped with both vocational and technical skills to bring about sustainability in their careers. (2) Methods: The present study aims to investigate the perception gap between vocational students and industrial employers with regard to employability skills. In this regard, data were collected from 683 vocational students from urban/rural areas studying in the public/private vocational institutions of a developing country. Similarly, 82 vocational employers were contacted about their perception of employability skills. A questionnaire comprising 20 questions was administered online to both students and employers for registering their responses. Data were analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics, interval plots, and an Ishikawa diagram. (3) Results: The findings reveal that vocational employers give maximum importance to interpersonal, technical, and entrepreneurial skills, while students perceive that their technical and computing skills are vital for sustainable careers. Similarly, the rural/public students showed minimum levels of competency in these skills as compared with their counterparts living in rural areas and studying in the private institutions. Furthermore, structured interviews were conducted with the concerned stakeholders to develop a remedial framework for the sustainable careers of these vocational students. (4) Conclusions: The results of the study not only bring sustainability to the vocational sector of developing countries, but to all those countries enjoying similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

Transformational leadership and employee innovation: Examining the congruence of leader and follower perceptions

Organizations are relying on their leaders to demonstrate effective leadership behavior that positively affects employee innovation. However, discrepancies are often found between leaders’ self-perception and followers’ perception of leadership. Understanding the discrepancies is critical for narrowing the leader–follower perception gap and achieving congruence between leaders and followers. This forms the motivation of this study, which aims to compare and contrast the direct and mediated (through psychological empowerment) impact of transformational leadership behavior on employee innovation performance from the perspective of both leaders and followers. Multisource data using questionnaires were collected from 66 leaders and 220 followers in the United Arab Emirates. The results show that leaders’ self-perception scores were significantly lower than that of their followers. Also, discrepancies in perceptions of the direct impact of transformational leadership behavior on employee innovation were found such that a positive and significant relationship was found for followers while no significant relationship was found for leaders. Finally, psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and employee innovation performance for both leaders and followers, though leaders perceive the mediation of psychological empowerment to be stronger than followers perceive it to be. The study findings show the importance of obtaining multiple-source feedback to first assess the perceptions of both leaders and followers and then make necessary interventions (if required) to narrow perception gaps between leaders and followers since discrepancies could lead to poor organizational culture.

Customer Experience Management: Underexplored Instrument for Customer Transformation

Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to identify the role the customer experience plays in the transformation of the customer and to develop a theory that brings together related concepts in order to position the phenomenon of customer experience in the macromarketing context.Methodology/methods: The grounded theory development approach is based upon the sequential search and content analysis of the research papers acquired primarily from Scopus and Web of Science databases and by the process of citation chaining.Scientific aim: The aim of this article is to identify customer experience related concepts and relationships between them to lay the foundation for empirical research in the area of customer experience and transformation management.Findings: The research points out to the significant role of the customer experience in the transformation of the customer and therefore to the necessity to approach marketing initiatives to customer experience management thoroughly to achieve the desired marketing results, but also responsibly and ethically to promote growth not the degradation of the society.Conclusions: The cycle of the customer transformation as outlined through the conceptual model contains weak spots which can provide free space for negative effects of the company’s outputs on the customer. The trend of digitisation and digital products can significantly amplify this possibility and increase the overall negative effect. From another standpoint, several problematic spots can cause difficulties for companies intentionally trying to transform the customer through their outputs, namely intent-result gap, reality-perception gap, single-part gap, and experience-memory gap.Scientific research in this area might support the effectiveness of marketing initiatives, increase transparency in the field of customer experience and transformation, and lead to increased customers’ well-being, long-term happiness, life satisfaction, and quality of life.

Prioritizing Post Disaster Recovery Needs: Academicians versus Practitioners

Effective knowledge transfer between researchers and practitioners within the hazards and disaster domain has long been a challenging task. The diversity of hazard researchers and practitioners, as well as the high stakes of applying research outcomes, have contributed to the issue. This research aims to explore potential discrepancies between researchers and practitioners’ perspectives regarding post-disaster recovery needs. To achieve the objective of this research, a survey was developed and conducted during the 2019 Natural Hazards Workshop in Broomfield, Colorado, which is host to individuals from various career backgrounds, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, students, etc. Exploratory factor analysis and elastic net regression were used to provide a link between individuals’ awareness of these challenges and their personal attributes. Results highlighted the discrepancies between researchers and practitioners in how they perceive and prioritize recovery needs. Results from this research can be used to bridge the existing perception gap with the goal of devising policies that can improve recovery by addressing the needs more realistically.

Development and validation of a scale for measuring hospital service quality: a dyadic approach

PurposeThis study integrates the providers' perspective as well as the patient's perspective in developing and validating a scale to measure hospital service quality in multispecialty hospitals.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory sequential mixed-method approach was used in this study. The strategies used included a thematic literature review, semi-structured interviews, modified Delphi and confirmatory factor analysis.FindingsThe reliability coefficient of 41 item scale was 0.963 with each attribute, that is, pivotal, core and peripheral, having a Cronbach's alpha of 0.907, 0.91 and 0.891, with scale content validity (S-CVI Ave) of 0.9151. The composite reliability scores of all constructs were greater than 0.7, with an Average Variance Explained (AVE) of all items greater than 0.5.Originality/valueThe instrument can be used to measure the difference between what service providers believe customers expect and customers’ actual needs and expectations. The scale can be used to measure the difference between what is delivered (as perceived by the provider) and what customers perceive they have received (because they are unable to accurately evaluate service quality). The dyadic approach of administering this questionnaire in measuring hospital service quality will lead to the identification of a knowledge gap and a perception gap in delivering hospital service quality.

Evaluation of motor complications in Parkinson’s disease: understanding the perception gap between patients and physicians

Background: Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) receiving levodopa treatment often report the motor complications including wearing-off (WO), dyskinesia and morning akinesia phenomena. Since motor complications are associated with a decrease in patient quality of life (QoL), it is important to identify its occurrence and commence immediate management. This study investigated whether differences in the perception of motor complications exist between patients and their physicians in routine clinical practice.Methods: Following an internet-based screening survey, questionnaires were distributed to physicians and their patients in Japan. The 9-item Wearing-off Questionnaire (WOQ-9) assessed the presence of WO objectively; patients with WOQ-9 scores ≥2 were considered to have WO. McNemar’s tests were used to compare physician assessment with the WOQ-9, patient self-awareness with physician assessment, and patient self-awareness with the WOQ-9, separately. Morning akinesia, dyskinesia, and QoL were also assessed.Results: A total of 235 patients with PD and their 92 physicians participated in this survey. A significant discordance was observed between the WOQ-9 and physician assessment of WO (67.2% vs 46.0%; p<0.0001). Furthermore, patient self-awareness of WO was 35.3% (p=0.0004, vs physician). Morning akinesia (patient, 58.7%; physician, 48.9%; p=0.0032), dyskinesia (patient, 34.0%; physician, 23.4%; p=0.0006), and bodily discomfort (patient, 25.0; physician, 0.0; p=0.0102) of QoL were underrecognized by physicians. Conclusions: This study investigated differences in the perception of WO between patients with PD and their physicians in routine clinical practice and highlighted that patients have a low awareness of the symptoms of WO compared with physician assessments and the WOQ-9. Conversely, morning akinesia, dyskinesia, and bodily discomfort were underrecognized by physicians.