Evaluation on service quality of railway timetable

From the business viewpoint, the railway timetable is a list of the products presented by the railway transportation operators to the customers, specifying the schedules of all the train services on a railway line or network. In order to evaluate the quality of the train service schedules, a number of indices are proposed in this paper. These indices primarily take the passengers’ needs, such as waiting time, transfer time and transport capacity into consideration. Delay rate is usually used in post-evaluation. In this study, we propose to give an evaluation on the probability that the scheduled train services are likely to be delayed and the recovery ability of the timetable after delay has occurred. The evaluation identifies the possible problems in the services, such as excessive waiting time, non-seamless transfer, and high possibility of delay. This paper also discusses the improvement of these problems through certain adjustments on the timetable. The indices for evaluation and the adjustment method on timetable are then applied to a case study on the Hu-Ning-Hang railway in China, followed by the discussions of the merits of the proposed indices for timetable evaluation and possible improvement.

The influence of family ownership on the quality of accounting information

This article explores the quality of accounting information in listed family firms. The authors exploit the features of the Italian equitymarket characterizd by high ownership concentration across all tpes of firms to disentangle the effects of family ownership from other major block holders on the quality of accounting information. The findings document that family firms convey financial information of higher quality compared to the nonfamily peers. Furthermore the authors provide evidence that the determinants of accounting quality differ across family and nonfamily firms.

Cultural influences on IS service quality perceptions

While Information services function’s (ISF) service quality is not a new concept and has received considerable attention for over two decades, cross-cultural research of ISF’s service quality is not very mature. The author argues that the relationship between cultural dimensions and the ISF’s service quality dimensions may provide useful insights for how organisations should deal with different cultural groups. This paper will show that ISF’s service quality dimensions vary from one culture to another. The study adopts Hofstede’s (1980, 1991) typology of cultures and the “zones of tolerance” (ZOT) service quality measure reported by Kettinger & Lee (2005) as the primary commencing theory-base. In this paper, the author hypothesised and tested the influences of culture on users’ service quality perceptions and found strong empirical support for the study’s hypotheses. The results of this study indicate that as a result of their cultural characteristics, users vary in both their overall service quality perceptions and their perceptions on each of the four dimensions of ZOT service quality.

Regional field measurement of soil moisture content with neutron probe

The neutron logging method has been widely used for field measurement of soil moisture content. This non-destructive method permitted the measurement of in-situ soil moisture content at various depths without the need for burying any sensor. Twenty-three sites located around regional Melbourne have been selected for long term monitoring of soil moisture content using neutron probe. Soil samples collected during the installation are used for site characterisation and neutron probe calibration purposes. A linear relationship is obtained between the corrected neutron probe reading and moisture content for both the individual and combined data from seven sites. It is observed that the liner relationship, developed using combined data, can be used for all sites with an average accuracy of about 80%. Monitoring of the variation of soil moisture content with depth in six months for two sites is presented in this paper.

The Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) : measuring the quality and outcomes of palliative care on a routine basis

Australia is leading the way in establishing a national system (the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration – PCOC) to measure the outcomes and quality of specialist palliative care services and to benchmark services across the country. This article reports on analysis of data collected routinely at point-of-care on 5939 patients treated by the first fifty one services that voluntarily joined PCOC. By March 2009, 111 services have agreed to join PCOC, representing more than 70% of services and more than 80% of specialist palliative care patients nationally. All states and territories are involved in this unique process that has involved extensive consultation and infrastructure and close collaboration between health services and researchers. The challenges of dealing with wide variation in outcomes and practice and the progress achieved to date are described. PCOC is aiming to improve understanding of the reasons for variations in clinical outcomes between specialist palliative care patients and differences in service outcomes as a critical step in an ongoing process to improve both service quality and patient outcomes. What is known about the topic? Governments internationally are grappling with how best to provide care for people with life limiting illnesses and how best to measure the outcomes and quality of that care. There is little international evidence on how to measure the quality and outcomes of palliative care on a routine basis. What does this paper add? The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) is the first effort internationally to measure the outcomes and quality of specialist palliative care services and to benchmark services on a national basis through an independent third party. What are the implications for practitioners? If outcomes and quality are to be measured on a consistent national basis, standard clinical assessment tools that are used as part of everyday clinical practice are necessary.

An investigation of the relationship between subjective sleep quality, loneliness and mood in an Australian sample: Can daily routine explain the links?

Background: Loneliness and low mood are associated with significant negative health outcomes including poor sleep, but the strength of the evidence underlying these associations varies. There is strong evidence that poor sleep quality and low mood are linked, but only emerging evidence that loneliness and poor sleep are associated. Aims: To independently replicate the finding that loneliness and poor subjective sleep quality are associated and to extend past research by investigating lifestyle regularity as a possible mediator of relationships, since lifestyle regularity has been linked to loneliness and poor sleep. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 97 adults completed standardized measures of loneliness, lifestyle regularity, subjective sleep quality and mood. Results: Loneliness was a significant predictor of sleep quality. Lifestyle regularity was not a predictor of, nor associated with, mood, sleep quality or loneliness. Conclusions: This study provides an important independent replication of the association between poor sleep and loneliness. However, the mechanism underlying this link remains unclear. A theoretically plausible mechanism for this link, lifestyle regularity, does not explain the relationship between loneliness and poor sleep. The nexus between loneliness and poor sleep is unlikely to be broken by altering the social rhythm of patients who present with poor sleep and loneliness.

Clinical outcomes in residential care : setting benchmarks for quality

Aim Australian residential aged care does not have a system of quality assessment related to clinical outcomes, or comprehensive quality benchmarking. The Residential Care Quality Assessment was developed to fill this gap; and this paper discusses the process by which preliminary benchmarks representing high and low quality were developed for it. Methods Data were collected from all residents (n = 498) of nine facilities. Numerator–denominator analysis of clinical outcomes occurred at a facility-level, with rank-ordered results circulated to an expert panel. The panel identified threshold scores to indicate excellent and questionable care quality, and refined these through Delphi process. Results Clinical outcomes varied both within and between facilities; agreed thresholds for excellent and poor outcomes were finalised after three Delphi rounds. Conclusion Use of the Residential Care Quality Assessment provides a concrete means of monitoring care quality and allows benchmarking across facilities; its regular use could contribute to improved care outcomes within residential aged care in Australia.

Business Process Quality Management

Process modeling is a central element in any approach to Business Process Management (BPM). However, what hinders both practitioners and academics is the lack of support for assessing the quality of process models – let alone realizing high quality process models. Existing frameworks are highly conceptual or too general. At the same time, various techniques, tools, and research results are available that cover fragments of the issue at hand. This chapter presents the SIQ framework that on the one hand integrates concepts and guidelines from existing ones and on the other links these concepts to current research in the BPM domain. Three different types of quality are distinguished and for each of these levels concrete metrics, available tools, and guidelines will be provided. While the basis of the SIQ framework is thought to be rather robust, its external pointers can be updated with newer insights as they emerge.

Factors influencing quality of life in patients with benign primary brain tumors : prior to and following surgery

Goals: Few studies have repeatedly evaluated quality of life and potentially relevant factors in patients with benign primary brain tumor. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the experience of the symptom distress, functional status, depression, and quality of life prior to surgery (T1) and 1 month post-discharge (T2). ---------- Patients and methods: This was a prospective cohort study including 58 patients with benign primary brain tumor in one teaching hospital in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The research instruments included the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory, the Functional Independence Measure scale, the Hospital Depression Scale, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain.---------- Results: Symptom distress (T1: r=−0.90, p<0.01; T2: r=−0.52, p<0.01), functional status (T1: r=0.56, p<0.01), and depression (T1: r=−0.71, p<0.01) demonstrated a significant relationship with patients' quality of life. Multivariate analysis identified symptom distress (explained 80.2%, Rinc 2=0.802, p=0.001) and depression (explained 5.2%, Rinc 2=0.052, p<0.001) continued to have a significant independent influence on quality of life prior to surgery (T1) after controlling for key demographic and medical variables. Furthermore, only symptom distress (explained 27.1%, Rinc 2=0.271, p=0.001) continued to have a significant independent influence on quality of life at 1 month after discharge (T2).---------- Conclusions: The study highlights the potential importance of a patient's symptom distress on quality of life prior to and following surgery. Health professionals should inquire about symptom distress over time. Specific interventions for symptoms may improve the symptom impact on quality of life. Additional studies should evaluate symptom distress on longer-term quality of life of patients with benign brain tumor.

Measurement of affect during simulation-based training

Training designed to support and strengthen higher-order mental abilities now often involves immersion in Virtual Reality where dangerous real world scenarios can be safely replicated. However despite the growing popularity of advanced training simulations, methods for evaluating their use rely heavily on subjective measures or analysis of final outcomes. Without dynamic, objective performance measures the outcome of training in terms of impact on cognitive skills and ability to transfer newly acquired skills to the real world is unknown. The relationship between affective intensity and cognitive learning provides a potential new approach to ensure the processing of cognitions which occur prior to final outcomes, such as problem-solving and decision-making, are adequately evaluated. This paper describes the technical aspects of pilot work recently undertaken to develop a new measurement tool designed to objectively track individual affect levels during simulation-based training.

Conceptual models of satisfaction level in construction

It is recognized that, in general, the performance of construction projects does not meet optimal expectations. One aspect of this is the performance of each participant, which is interdependent and makes a significance impact on overall project outcomes. Of these, the client is traditionally the owner of the project, the architect or engineer is engaged as the lead designer and a contractor is selected to construct the facilities. Generally, the performance of the participants is gauged by considering three main factors, namely time, cost and quality. As the level of satisfaction is a subjective measurement, it is rarely used in the performance evaluation of construction work. Recently, various approaches to the measurement of satisfaction have been made in attempting to determine the performance of construction project outcomes – for instance client satisfaction, consultant satisfaction, contractor satisfaction, customer satisfaction and home buyer satisfaction. These not only identify the performance of the construction project, but are also used to improve and maintain relationships. In addition, these assessments are necessary for continuous improvement and enhanced cooperation between participants. The measurement of satisfaction levels primarily involves expectations and perceptions. An expectation can be regarded as a comparison standard of different needs, motives and beliefs, while a perception is a subjective interpretation that is influenced by moods, experiences and values. This suggests that the disparity between perceptions and expectations may be used to represent different levels of satisfaction. However, this concept is rather new and in need of further investigation. This paper examines the current methods commonly practiced in measuring satisfaction level and the advantages of promoting these methods. The results provided are a preliminary review of the advantages of satisfaction measurement in the construction industry and recommendations are made concerning the most appropriate methods for use in identifying the performance of project outcomes.

The impact of contractor’s characteristics in gauging level satisfaction

The outcomes of the construction projects can be evaluated in numerous ways. One method is to measure the satisfaction of participants as represented by the differences between their expectations and perceptions. This measurement is used widely in construction as it promises benefits, such as the improvement of product delivery, and enhances services quality by identifying some necessary changes. Commonly satisfaction measurement is gauged by evaluating the level of client satisfaction of construction performance. The measurement of customer satisfaction on the other hand, is based on the quality of the end product. This evaluation is used to encourage contractors to improve their performance to a required level and to ensure that the projects are delivered as expected- in terms of time, budget and quality. Several studies of performance measurement have indicated that contractor performance is still not satisfactory, as the outcome delivered is not as required (because of cost overruns, time overruns or because it is generally unsatisfactory). This drawback may be due to the contractors’ lack of expertise, motivation and/or satisfaction. The measurement of performance based on contractor satisfaction levels is still new and very few studies have yet taken place in the construction industry. This paper examines how the characteristics of a contracting organisation – namely its experience in the industry, background, past performance, size of organisation and financial stability- may influence its satisfaction levels with regards to project performance. Previous literature reviews and interviews are used as research tools in the preliminary investigation. The outcome is expected to present a basic understanding of contractor satisfaction measurement and its potential for improving the performance of project outcomes.

Enhancing the use of Internet and Web services for quality learning : an action research

Internet and Web services have been used in both teaching and learning and are gaining popularity in today’s world. E-Learning is becoming popular and considered the latest advance in technology based learning. Despite the potential advantages for learning in a small country like Bhutan, there is lack of eServices at the Paro College of Education. This study investigated students’ attitudes towards online communities and frequency of access to the Internet, and how students locate and use different sources of information in their project tasks. Since improvement was at the heart of this research, an action research approach was used. Based on the idea of purposeful sampling, a semi-structured interview and observations were used as data collection instruments. 10 randomly selected students (5 girls and 5 boys) participated in this research as the controlled group. The study findings indicated that there is a lack of educational information technology services, such as e-learning at the college. Internet connection being very slow was the main barrier to learning using e-learning or accessing Internet resources. There is a strong relationship between the quality of written task and the source of the information, and between Web searching and learning. The source of information used in assignments and project work is limited to books in the library which are often outdated and of poor quality. Project tasks submitted by most of the students were of poor quality.

An intelligent data mining technique for product quality improvement

Advances in data mining have provided techniques for automatically discovering underlying knowledge and extracting useful information from large volumes of data. Data mining offers tools for quick discovery of relationships, patterns and knowledge in large complex databases. Application of data mining to manufacturing is relatively limited mainly because of complexity of manufacturing data. Growing self organizing map (GSOM) algorithm has been proven to be an efficient algorithm to analyze unsupervised DNA data. However, it produced unsatisfactory clustering when used on some large manufacturing data. In this paper a data mining methodology has been proposed using a GSOM tool which was developed using a modified GSOM algorithm. The proposed method is used to generate clusters for good and faulty products from a manufacturing dataset. The clustering quality (CQ) measure proposed in the paper is used to evaluate the performance of the cluster maps. The paper also proposed an automatic identification of variables to find the most probable causative factor(s) that discriminate between good and faulty product by quickly examining the historical manufacturing data. The proposed method offers the manufacturers to smoothen the production flow and improve the quality of the products. Simulation results on small and large manufacturing data show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

An examination of factors influencing effective and continuous improvement of Indonesian contractors' quality management systems

This paper presents the results of a pilot study examining the factors that impact most on the effective implementation of, and improvement to, Quality Mangement Sytems (QMSs) amongst Indonesian construction companies. Nine critical factors were identified from an extensive literature review, and a survey was conducted of 23 respondents from three specific groups (Quality Managers, Project Managers, and Site Engineers) undertaking work in the Indonesian infrastructure construction sector. The data has been analyzed initially using simple descriptive techniques. This study reveals that different groups within the sector have different opinions of the factors regardless of the degree of importance of each factor. However, the evaluation of construction project success and the incentive schemes for high performance staff, are the two factors that were considered very important by most of the respondents in all three groups. In terms of their assessment of tools for measuring contractor’s performance, additional QMS guidelines, techniques related to QMS practice provided by the Government, and benchmarking, a clear majority in each group regarded their usefulness as ‘of some importance’.