Tanzania’s extractive sector faces mixed prospects

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Oil Pipeline ◽  
Resource Nationalism ◽  
Extractive Sector

Significance Renewed momentum for these projects is being viewed positively by investors, many of whom are still struggling with the slow bureaucracy and resource nationalism of President John Magufuli’s administration. Impacts With decision-making ever-more centralised, the president’s approval (and attention) will be critical to the success of new projects. Reportedly advanced special mining license talks with Peak Resources and OreCorp will be watched for further signs of government intent. Movement on the Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline will open up an array of opportunities for subsidiary service providers.

scholarly journals A comparison of high-speed internet service in Ghana: an analytical hierarchy approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Frimpon ◽  
Ebenezer Adaku
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan

Purpose The rising proportion of internet users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of analytical techniques, as decision support systems, in choosing among alternative internet service providers (ISPs) by consumers underpin this study. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for evaluating high-speed internet service offered by ISPs in a sub-Saharan African country. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample size of 150, pairwise comparisons of two ISPs along five criteria of cost, usability, support, reliability and speed were performed by ten person groups of university students working in various organizations in Ghana and undertaking an online Six Sigma Course. Geometric means were employed to aggregate the scores in 15 groups, and these scores were then normalized and used as input into an analytical hierarchy process grid. Findings The results show that consumers of internet services highly emphasize the cost attribute of internet provision in their decision making. On the other hand, it was realized that consumers least emphasize the support provided by ISPs in their decision making among alternative ISPs. Originality/value This study has sought to provide an analytical framework for assessing the quality of service provided by alternative ISPs in a developing economy’s context. The evaluating criteria in this framework also reveal the key consumer requirements in internet service provision in a developing economy’s environment. This, to a large extent, will inform the marketing strategies of existing ISPs in Ghana as well as prospective ones intending to enter the Ghanaian market. Besides, the National Communication Authority, a regulator of communication services provision in Ghana, will be informed about the performances of the ISPs along five performance criteria. This is expected to aid in their regulatory functions.

Consumer empowerment in insurance

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1073-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Buehler ◽  
Peter Maas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Consumer Empowerment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Performance ◽  
Performance Risk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of consumer empowerment in the relationship between consumers and service providers. It draws on self-efficacy theory to conceptualize consumer empowerment and explain the impact on perceived performance risk in insurance decision making. Design/methodology/approach This study employs data collected from an online survey involving 487 consumers in Switzerland, who recently decided on an insurance service. A structural equation model quantifies both the psychological effects on consumers’ perception of insurance services and behavioral effects on their decision-making process. Findings Perceived consumer empowerment is conceptualized by perceived self-efficacy and perceived controllability. Both have a significant impact on perceived performance risk, while the former is partially mediated by the preference to delegate the decision to a surrogate. Moreover, customers’ involvement in the purchase process moderates both the direct and indirect effect of perceived self-efficacy on perceived performance risk. Research limitations/implications The results are based on consumers’ perceptions from a single country. Furthermore, consumers’ perceptions were surveyed with a time lag after the decision-making process. To increase rigor, perceptions should be collected during decision making. Practical implications Results show that consumer empowerment can be employed as a risk reduction strategy. Consumers with self-efficacy and controllability beliefs perceive significantly less performance risk; however, practitioners should consider that consumers are also motivated to make decisions independently rather than delegating their decisions. Furthermore, consumer empowerment depends on consumer will. For largely indifferent consumers, empowerment does not affect risk or decision delegation preference. Originality/value The study is among the few empirical works to examine the effects of consumer empowerment on the consumer-service provider relationship on an individual level. Furthermore, applying consumer empowerment in relationship marketing implies a shift in research focus to the question of how consumers construe decision-making situations rather than objectively measuring the state of consumer relationship.

Implementation of 3D printing and the effect on decision making in logistics management

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
3D Printing ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Logistics Management ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disruptive Technologies ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Service Portfolio ◽  
The Impact

PurposeFrom a synthesis of literature, the purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual service development methodology showing the impact of 3D printing as a disruptive technology to the service portfolio. The methodology is designed to support practitioners and academics in better understanding the impact of disruptive technologies may have to the service portfolio and participate in the technology.Design/methodology/approachA literature review is conducted and based on these findings a conceptual framework has been developed.FindingsThe design of a methodology for the development of 3D printing services is used to evaluate the disruption potential of 3D printing and to implement the technology in the service portfolio of a logistics service provider. The disruption potential of 3D printing influences a logistics manager by make to order decisions. In addition, it could be proven the service portfolio was diversified.Research limitations/implicationsLiterature directly dealing with technology-based service development for decision making in logistics management is rare and thus the methodology is built on insights, compiled from the distinct research areas. Further research should be performed on this nascent topic.Practical implicationsLogistics service providers may use the developed methodology to revise their service portfolio by the consideration of disruptive technologies, in order to reduce strategic misdecisions regarding the range of services.Originality/valueThis paper looks specifically at decision making for implementing disruptive technologies to the service portfolio.

Modelling near-real-time order arrival demand in e-commerce context: a machine learning predictive methodology

2020 ◽  
Vol 120 (6) ◽  
pp. 1149-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.H. Leung ◽  
Daniel Y. Mo ◽  
G.T.S. Ho ◽  
C.H. Wu ◽  
G.Q. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Implementation Framework ◽  
Inference System ◽  
Content Type

PurposeAccurate prediction of order demand across omni-channel supply chains improves the management's decision-making ability at strategic, tactical and operational levels. The paper aims to develop a predictive methodology for forecasting near-real-time e-commerce order arrivals in distribution centres, allowing third-party logistics service providers to manage the hour-to-hour fast-changing arrival rates of e-commerce orders better.Design/methodology/approachThe paper proposes a novel machine learning predictive methodology through the integration of the time series data characteristics into the development of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. A four-stage implementation framework is developed for enabling practitioners to apply the proposed model.FindingsA structured model evaluation framework is constructed for cross-validation of model performance. With the aid of an illustrative case study, forecasting evaluation reveals a high level of accuracy of the proposed machine learning approach in forecasting the arrivals of real e-commerce orders in three different retailers at three-hour intervals.Research limitations/implicationsResults from the case study suggest that real-time prediction of individual retailer's e-order arrival is crucial in order to maximize the value of e-order arrival prediction for daily operational decision-making.Originality/valueEarlier researchers examined supply chain demand, forecasting problem in a broader scope, particularly in dealing with the bullwhip effect. Prediction of real-time, hourly based order arrivals has been lacking. The paper fills this research gap by presenting a novel data-driven predictive methodology.

Environmentally responsible freight transport service providers' assessment under data-driven information uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aalok Kumar ◽  
Ramesh Anbanandam
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Freight Transportation ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Transport Service ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Transport Industry

PurposeFreight transportation practices accounted for a significant share of environmental degradation and climate change over the years. Therefore, environmentally responsible transport practices (ERTPs) become a serious concern of freight shippers and transport service providers. Past studies generally ignored the assessment of ERTPs of freight transport companies during a transport service contract. To bridge the above literature gap, this paper proposed a hierarchical framework for evaluating freight transport companies based on ERTPs.Design/methodology/approachIn a data-driven decision-making environment, transport firm selection is affected by multiple expert inputs, lack of information availability, decision-making ambiguity and background of experts. The evaluation of such decisions requires a multi-criteria decision-making method under a group decision-making approach. This paper used a data-driven method based on the intuitionistic fuzzy-set-based analytic hierarchy process (IF-AHP) and VIseKriterijumska Kompromisno Rangiranje (IF-VIKOR) method. The applicability of the proposed framework is validated with the Indian freight transport industry.FindingsThe result analysis shows that environmental knowledge sharing among freight transport actors, quality of organizations human resource, collaborative green awareness training programs, promoting environmental awareness program for employees and compliance of government transport emission law and practice have been ranked top five ERTPs which significantly contribute to the environmental sustainability of freight transport industry. The proposed framework also ranked freight transport companies based on ERTPs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is expected to provide a reference to develop ERTPs in the emerging economies freight transport industry and contribute to the development of a sustainable freight transport system.Originality/valueThis study assesses the environmental responsibility of the freight transportation industry. The emerging economies logistics planners can use proposed framework for assessing the performance of freight transportation companies based on ERTPs.

A new trust management framework based on the experience of users in industrial cloud computing using multi-criteria decision making

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmila Ivanovna Khoruzhy ◽  
Roman Petrovich Bulyga ◽  
Olga Yuryevna Voronkova ◽  
Lidia Vladimirovna Vasyutkina ◽  
Natalya Ryafikovna Saenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Trust Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Industrial Cloud

PurposeNowadays, cloud platforms are used in many fields, including e-commerce, web applications, data storage, healthcare, gaming, mobile social networks, etc. However, security and privacy are still two significant concerns in this area. The target of this paper is to present a system for trust management in industrial cloud computing using the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach. MCDM techniques have been developed to accommodate a wide range of applications. As a result, hundreds of approaches have been generated with even minor variations on current approaches spawning new study fields.Design/methodology/approachCloud computing provides a fully scalable, accessible and flexible computing platform for various applications. Due to the multiple applications that cloud computing has found in numerous life features, users and providers have considered providing security in cloud communications. Due to its distributive nature, dynamic space and lack of transparency in performing cloud computing, it faces many challenges in providing security. For security improvement, trust management can play a very influential role. This paper proposes a generic analytical methodology that uses a series of assessment criteria to evaluate current trust management testing prototypes in industrial cloud computing and related fields. The authors utilize a MCDM approach in the present article. Due to the multi-dimensionality of the sustainability objective and the complexities of socio-economic and biophysical processes, MCDM approaches have become progressively common in decision-making for sustainable energy.FindingsThe results of comparing and evaluating the performance of this model show its ability to manage trust and the ability to adapt to changes in the behavior of service providers quickly. Using a simulation, all results are confirmed. The results of simulations and evaluation of the present paper indicate that the proposed model provides a more accurate evaluation of the credibility of cloud service providers than other models.Practical implicationsThe number of cloud services and customers is vast and extremely competitive in cloud environments, where novel cloud services and customers can join at any time, while others can withdraw whenever they want. Because of cloud services' highly dynamic and dispersed design, trust management mechanisms must be highly flexible to obtain feedback and update trust outcomes as quickly as possible. The model presented in this article tries to improve users' trust in the cloud industry.Originality/valueUsing a method (MCDM) to find the best trust management solution based on user experience in industrial cloud computing is the novelty of this paper.

Consumers’ decision-making self-efficacy for service purchases: construct conceptualization and scale

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dena Hale ◽  
Ramendra Thakur ◽  
John Riggs ◽  
Suzanne Altobello
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Order Construct ◽  
Scale Measure

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a scale to determine the consumer’s level of decision-making self-efficacy for a high-involved service purchase, specifically the purchase of medical insurance. One question to ask is how service providers can help consumers purchase the services that best meet their needs? Before interventions can occur, it is necessary to benchmark consumers’ perceptions of their own decision-making control and abilities. Design/methodology/approach A scale that measures consumers’ service decision-making self-efficacy was developed using the principles established for scale development validation. A four-study approach was used to reach the research objective. Findings The research consisted of four studies designed to: generate items to measure consumer service decision-making self-efficacy (CSDMSE); purify the scale and assess its dimensionality (second-order structure); establish the reliability and validity of the scale; and establish norms to provide details on its usefulness for aiding consumers with service purchases. The scale was found to be a higher-order construct, comprising three lower-order constructs. Originality/value Research suggests that consumer self-efficacy may affect their decision-making. The greater the consumer’s self-efficacy for decision-making tasks, the more efficient the decision-making process strategies are expected to be. This is the purpose for which the CSDMSE scale measure was created: to understand how, where and when service professionals can assist consumers with making appropriate service-related decisions and purchases.

Managing operations in customer-intensive services with forward-looking customers

Kybernetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 1941-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengzhang Li ◽  
Minghui Jiang ◽  
Xuchuan Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Operations ◽  
Purchase Decision ◽  
Service Rate ◽  
Optimal Price ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reservation Utility ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Forward Looking

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the optimal price and service rate decisions in a customer-intensive service, where customers’ perceived service quality decreases in the service speed. Customers are assumed to be forward-looking in purchase decision-making and heterogeneous in their reservation utilities. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of customers’ forward-looking behavior and the heterogeneity on the operational decisions in a customer-intensive context. Design/methodology/approach The service is delivered through an M/M/1 queue system with unobservable queues. Customers are forward-looking in queue joining decisions, where the purchase decisions are made when the expected utility is greater than the reservation utility. The optimal price and service rate decisions are analyzed with both homogeneous and heterogeneous customers, where homogenous customers have the same reservation utility in purchase decision-making, while heterogeneous customers have different reservation utilities, which are captured by a random variable. Findings The optimal price and service rate decisions with forward-looking customers depend on the customer intensity, potential market size and customers’ reservation utility distribution. The results suggest that customers’ heterogeneity in terms of their reservation utilities affects the optimal decisions, market coverage and the expected revenue. Service providers need to take customers’ heterogeneity and the forward-looking behavior into operational decision-making. Originality/value This paper extends previous studies in customer-intensive service and contribute to the service operations management area by explicitly incorporating customers’ forward-looking behavior and heterogeneity in purchase decision-making. Assuming customers are forward-looking and heterogeneous is more realistic and practical. The results highlight that knowing customers’ behavioral characteristics can better improve decision-making in service operations, which is critical for enhancing customers’ satisfaction and loyalty, thus critical to a firm’s success in the market with intensive competition.

scholarly journals Predicting changing pattern: building model for consumer decision making in digital market

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 674-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil Kumar ◽  
Sachin Kumar Mangla ◽  
Sunil Luthra ◽  
Nripendra P. Rana ◽  
Yogesh K. Dwivedi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Consumer Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fuzzy Delphi ◽  
Priority Weights

Purpose Consumers have the multiple options to choose their products and services, which have a significant impact on the pattern of consumer decision making in digital market and further increases the challenges for the service providers to predict their buying pattern. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is to propose a structural hierarchy model for analyzing the changing pattern of consumer decision making in digital market by taking an Indian context. Design/methodology/approach To accomplish the objectives, the research is conducted in two phases. An extensive literature review is performed in the first phase to list the factors related to the changing pattern of consumer decision making in digital market and then fuzzy Delphi method is applied to finalize the factors. In the second phase, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is employed to find the priority weights of finalized factors. The fuzzy set theory allows capturing the vagueness in the data. Findings The findings obtained in this study shows that consumers are much conscious about innovative and trendy products as well as brand and quality; therefore, the service providers must think about these two most important factors so that they can able to retain their consumer in their online portal. Practical implications The analysis shows that “innovative and trendy” is the first priority factor for the consumers followed by “brand and quality” and “fulfilment and time energy.” The proposed model can help the marketers and service providers in predicting customers’ preferences and their changing pattern efficiently under vague surroundings. The outcomes of this research work not only help the service provider to update their products and services according to consumers’ needs but can also help them to increase profit and minimize their risk. Originality/value This work contributes to consumer research literature focusing on problem evaluation in the context of changing pattern of consumer decision making in digital era.

scholarly journals Collaborative relationships between logistics service providers and humanitarian organizations during disaster relief operations

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bealt ◽  
Jair Camilo Fernández Barrera ◽  
S. Afshin Mansouri
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Collaborative Partnerships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Disaster Relief Operations ◽  
Logistics Service Providers ◽  
Relief Operations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore barriers and benefits of establishing relationships between humanitarian organizations (HOs) and logistics service providers (LSPs) in order to improve humanitarian disaster relief operations (DROs). The perceptions of a variety of actors are explored to determine key factors which influence collaboration. Design/methodology/approach – This study comprises of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken alongside an online survey with a variety of respondents. Descriptive statistics, data visualization and qualitative data analysis were implemented to analyse survey results. A follow-up survey and interviews with LSPs validated the results. Findings – The research presents the opinions of a variety of actors involved in DROs and reveals barriers which affect HO/LSP collaboration. Explanations for these barriers and possible solutions to mitigate them are disclosed. The findings also uncover gaps between research and practice; providing new insights into behaviour in the humanitarian field. Practical implications – The authors provide an in-depth understanding of the barriers and challenges faced in this field and suggest a reevaluation of corporate decision making in order to increase trust between LSPs and HOs. The authors identify future research topics including the impact of donors and military organizations on HO decision making, and analysis of variables which may affect the formation of collaborative partnerships. Originality/value – The authors introduce a unique empirical insight into the perspectives of HOs, LSPs and academics and offers suggestions for mitigating the numerous barriers associated with successful collaborative partnerships between HOs and LSPs.

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